
Class. , >, 
Book.^ 




A NATIVE OF JAMAICA ISLAND 



SPICES 

AND 

HOW TO KNOW THEM 



BY 

W. M. GIBBS 



MCMIX 



COMPOSITION, PRES8WORK, AND 

BINDING 

BY THE MATTHEW8-N0RTHKDP WOBKS 

BUFFALO, N. T. 



'^'^i^ 



Copyright, 1909, by 
W. M. GiBBS, Dunkirk, N. Y. 



iCl.A2o3M4 



To THE PROGRESSIVE PLANTER AND 
HONEST MILLER OF SPICES, TO 
THE SCRUPULOUS AND CONSCIENTIOUS 
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER, TO 
THE EARNEST COMMERCIAL MAN, AND 
TO THE CONSUMER WHO IS PARTICU- 
LAR: THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY 
DEDICATED. 



CONTENTS 



PAQE 



Introduction, 5, 6 

CHAPTER I, 

Early History of Spices, 7—9 

CHAPTER H. 

Adulteration of Spices, . 10-14 

CHAPTER HI. 
How TO Detect Adulterations in Spices — their 

Formation and Analysis, 15—34 

Potato Starch, 21 

Maranta Starch, 22 

Circuma, 22 

Leguminous Starches, 23 

Nutmeg Starch, 23 

Capsicum Starch, 23 

Pepper Starch, , . . 23 

Cinnamon Starch, 24 

Buckwheat Starch 24 

Maize or Corn Starch, 24 

Rice Starch, 24 

Wheat Starch, 24 

Barley Starch, 25 

Rye Starch, 25 

Oat Starch, 25 

Reagents and Apparatus, 30 

The Determination, 32 

CHAPTER IV. 

Black Pepper, 35-58 

CHAPTER V. 

White Pepper, 59-61 

CHAPTER VI. 

Long Pepper, 62-65 

CHAPTER VII. 

Capsicum, or Cayenne, 66-74 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Pimento, or Allspice, 75-80 

CHAPTER IX. 

Cinnamon and Cassia, 81-107 

Chemical Composition of Cassia and Cinnamon, 107 

CHAPTER X. 
Cloves, 108-121 

CHAPTER XI. 
Ginger, 122-135 

CHAPTER XII. 
Nutmegs, 136-151 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Mace, , . . . . 152-156 

The Chemical Composition of Mace, .... 155 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Mustard, 157-168 

Wet Mustard or French Mustard, . . . . . 161 

CHAPTER XV. 

Herbs, 169-179 

Sage, 169 

Marjoram, 171 

Parsley, 172 

Savory, 173 

Thyme, 174 

Seed, 176 

Caraway, 176 

Coriander, 177 

Cardamom, 178 



INTRODUCTION 

IT is with a certain feeling of helplessness and lone- 
liness that I am venturing upon the attempt to trace 
out the history of spices, as I have not a spice grove 
or garden to step into for my information ; but I must 
depend upon a far-distant country, where intelligence 
is but little above what it was five hundred years ago, 
where may be found the lair of the lion and the jungles 
of the tiger, where the elephant is used as a beast of bur- 
den, where the people file their teeth and color them 
black because they think natural white teeth too much 
like dogs' teeth. The fact that such ignorance is gen- 
eral in the Spice Islands obviously makes tny informa- 
tion the more difficult to obtain. JVIoreover, the camera 
and its uses are not known among the Malays, and the 
painter's art is not among their imaginings. For these 
reasons, the illustrations I have obtained have been 
secured only at great cost, but they are as true to nature 
in color as it is possible for printer's ink to make them. 
I hope they will aid me in realizing my purpose of mak- 
ing dealers in spices more familiar with their goods. 

It was not until after long and careful consideration 
of the fact that the mass of people know but little about 
the condiments which are to be found on almost every 
table, and of the further fact of the " inhumanity of 
man to man " in adulterating, that I was bold enough to 
attempt to write upon a subject never before written 
upon, except in a meager way. And although I do not 
expect to interest all who may read my pages, I hope 
to create a wish in some to know more of the flavors 
which so tickle the palate, the fruits of that far-distant 
country, the Straits Settlement, and neighboring 
regions. 

If I succeed in creating a desire among the retail 
dealers in spices to know the goods better, and to sell 
only those which are pure and wholesome, I shall feel 
that my work has not been a failure. In placing the 



same before the public, I believe it to be the most com- 
plete work ever written upon the subject with which it 
deals. 

The Author. 



I am much indebted to the United States Department of Agri- 
culture, Bulletin 13, by Clifford Richardson, for information in Chap- 
ter 3, on Adulterations and Analysis of Spices. Also to the United 
States Consulates of the cities of Penang, Singapore, and Colombo, to 
whom I extend thanks. 



\ 




CHAPTER I. 

EAELY HISTORY OF SPICES 

"Be still! oh North winds, and come, oh Southern breezes, and blow upon 
my garden, that the spice trees therein may blossom and bear fruit !" 
" His cheeks are as a bed of spices, of sweet flowers." 

— The Song of Solomon. 

THE terms spices and condiments are applied to 
those articles which, while possessing in themselves 
no nutritious principles, are added to food to make 
it more palatable and to stimulate digestion. They are 
of an exclusively vegetable origin, and occupy an im- 
portant position in the diet of the human race. 

A ride of thirty-five days by ocean steamer from New 
York City brings us to the city of Singapore, situated on 
a small island of that name, the principal exporting city 
and the metropoHs and capital of Malaysia, the Straits 
Settlement, India. The islands that constitute the 
Straits Settlement are crowned with si)ice forests. 
Here the noonday sun is truly vertical twice each year, 
and for many days it passes so near the zenith that 
change is scarcely perceptible. Here the grand con- 
stellation Orion passes overhead, while the Great Bear 
and Pole Star lie low down in the horizon. To the south 
may be seen the Southern Cross, and the planets high in 
the zenith. 

No autumn tints, like those of our Northern woods, 
deck the spice forests. There is no purple and yellow 
dying foliage which rivals, and even excels, the expiring 
dolphin in splendor, and the long, cold sleep of winter 
and the first gentle touch of spring are unknown. But 
instead, we behold a ceaseless round of active life, which 
weaves the fair scenery of the tropics into one monoto- 
nous whole, the component parts of which exhibit in de- 
tail untold variety and beauty; and no one component 
part impresses us more forcibly than the spice trees. It 
is said that sailors, several miles at sea, in favorable 

[7 ] 



weather, with a gentle land breeze, can tell they are neap- 
ing land long before they come in sight of the islands 
by the fragrance of the spice gardens. 

Singapore has a population of only 200,000, and the 
small island on which it is built contains but 145,000 
acres, yet the city does a business of $200,000,000 a year 
and can count its millionaires by the score. Eighty years 
ago, the place where it stands was simply a jungle for 
tigers, 

Singapore has ships from every port of the world 
going in and out of its harbor, and its streets are as 
lively as those of New York. You can go from it to 
the continent in a rowboat in one-half hour. Close con- 
nections are also made at Singapore for Siam, Borneo, 
Australia, China, Japan, Sumatra, and Ceylon, and it 
is the half-way station of the voyage around the world. 

The Island of Ceylon, with Colombo as its capital and 
chief city of export, also produces many fine spices. 
What could India do without her Spice Forests ? This 
is a question which remains unanswered. We might as 
well ask what the United States could do without its 
wheat fields. 

The different grades of spices take their names from 
the country or city from which they are exported, each 
different kind having a flavor of its own. Our best 
grades come mostly from Penang, and are called 
" Penang Spice," while spice of nearly as good a quality 
comes from parts of Malabar. Other chief cities of 
export are Bombay, Batavia, Calcutta, and Cayenne, 
South America; but the most important is Singapore, 
as has been before mentioned. 

The declared value of all spices shipped direct to this 
country averages about $12,000,000 worth annually. 
Among the cities that import spices New York stands 
first, probably receiving more than three-quarters of all 
importations. In 1898, 5,000,000 pounds of ginger 
were received at New York — 19,000 bags being from 
Calcutta, 9,010 from Africa, 65,000 from Cochin, 3,608 
barrels from Jamaica. There were 6,000,000 pounds 
of pepper received at New York, and probably nearly 
as much more at other ports. This may seem a large 

[ 8 ] 




A PLANTATION ON JAMAICA ISLAND 




A PLANTATION IN INDIA 



amount, but when we consider the quantity used in pre- 
pared meats and pickles, and the fact that pepper is on 
every table which can afford a pepper-box or caster, 
and that pepper enters into some of our food at nearly 
every meal, the above amount, which gives less than one- 
sixth of a pound per capita, is not large. A larger 
sum is paid for pepper than for any other spice. The 
amount paid for spices in' this country annually does not 
fall much short of one dollar per capita at retail 
prices. 

Four and one-half days by ocean steamer from New 
York brings us to the Island of Jamaica; and this chap- 
ter would not be complete if I did not mention that gem 
of the West Indies, the home of the Pimento and the 
famous Jamaica Ginger. Xajmaca (the Indian name 
for Jamaica) is like a huge mountain standing alone in 
the Carribean Sea, with its hard, white coral beach and 
ideal climate. The ride from Kingston, the capital of 
the island, with its 50,000 population of picturesque 
folks (Americans, Europeans, West Indies women, 
gorgeously arrayed, and the coolie women loaded with 
ornaments), to beautiful Montego Bay and Port 
Antonio is an experience never to be forgotten. 



[ 9] 



CHAPTER II. 

ADULTERATION OF SPICES 

THE Dutch at one time tried to control much of 
the spice trade but were frustrated by the birds 
which carried the seeds and planted them in other 
countries. We are strongly inclined to look upon the 
scheming Dutchman with contempt for this selfish act, 
but there is to-day hovering over spice products a 
greater evil, which makes one feel almost like shedding 
tears of shame for the acts of men who adulterate spices. 
If they would stop in their work long enough to ponder 
on the following appropriate words, they might receive 
new Hght in their attempt to mock Nature : 

Thou great first cause, and only cause direct. 
All else existing, only in effect; 
Cause and effect must harmonize and blend. 
To doubt the cause, we need but doubt the end. 

Perfection altered, would produce a flaw. 
God cannot err, hence, cannot change His law. ■ 
First, follow Nature, and your judgment frame 
By her just standard which is still the same. 

Unerring Nature, still divinely bright. 

One clear, unchanged and universal light. 

Life, force, and beauty must all impart; 

At once the source, and end, the test of Art." 

When the spice grinder will consider how hard it is 
to hide the spark of Nature, whoever yields reward to 
him who seeks and loves her best, and when the retail 
dealer of spices will remember that there is another man 
on the other side of the counter who is entitled to his 
money's worth, then, and not until then, will the evil of 
the adulteration of spices be done away with. 

A merchant who will, knowingly, sell to his customer 
adulterated spices at the value of pure goods is worse 
than a thief, because he not only robs them of their 
money but gives them poison for their stomach. 

[ 10 ] 



> 



Spice millers should not be counterfeiters ! How can 
they afford to imperil their reputation by advertising 
" scheme goods "? Let them grind their spices to give 
Nature's flavors as they grow in the bahny forests of the 
East Indies. Let them not mix these spices to suit 
the price of the retail dealer, but grind them pure, to 
please the tongue and the palate, and then hang out 
their sign, as their business would suggest, as spice 
millers or grinders, instead of " spice manufacturers." 
If the retail dealer of adulterated spices trusts a cus- 
tomer who will not pay his indebtedness, he calls the man 
a rogue, but forgets that the greater rogue is himself; 
that his customer has the law on his side, and that his 
best witness is the adulterated goods which were sold 
him; furthermore, this dealer is teaching to the clerk 
whom he has taken into his employ, with a promise to 
teach the young man the trade and good business prin- 
ciples of an honest merchant, the trade of a thief, and 
as such teaches him to rob his employer. If the mer- 
chant breaks his part of the contract, can he expect the 
clerk to keep his? If the clerk, trained by the dealer 
in dishonesty, steals from the cash-drawer, would it be 
right to discharge him with a tarnish on the good 
name he had when he entered such employ? Let 
the dealer keep pure goods, and teach his clerk 
their merit. By so doing, he can be twice armed 
when he is selling in competition with a dealer of 
adulterations. 

Let not the merchant profess to seek after the pros- 
perity of the country ; let him wonder not that business 
is dull; that labor is unemployed; that enterprise is 
dead, when he is doing all he can to destroy business 
and commercial prosperity by undermining the pubhc 
confidence, which is the foundation upon which all com- 
mercial enterprise rests. Nothing is more essential to 
business prosperity than a confidence that prosperous, 
existing conditions will remain unchanged. He who 
is helping to destroy that confidence makes himself a 
stumbling block in the public highway of humanity 
and, as such, is a detriment to mankind. He is the 
greatest enemy to self that humanity can produce. He 

[ 11 ] 



^^ 



is like a vine which cHmbs the tree and obtains its hf e by 
sucking the Ufe of that to which it chngs. 

No man can be a good citizen who will wrong his fel- 
low man simply because the laws of the country will 
protect him or, in other words, will not punish him for 
such wrongdoing. A miller or retail dealer of mixed 
or adulterated spices is as much a criminal as the man 
who has ingenuity enough to shape a coin from alloy 
and stamj) it as a legal standard, or as one who counter- 
feits a bank note, for all are guilty of illegal acts to ob- 
tain wealth. The government punishes the counter- 
feiter of money, but the dealer in adulterated goods is 
allowed freedom. The government will grant a patent 
for the latest improvement in machinery for mixing 
spices, but it will not grant a patent for a die to counter- 
feit bank notes. 

The dealing in adulterations is not confined to the 
poorer dealers. Among those who are guilty of this 
wrong we find the wealthy and those professing to be 
Christians — men who shudder at a dishonest act, but 
they apparently forget their duty to God and man. Is 
not such conduct mockery? Is it not offensive to God? 
If not, where could we find that which would be? Let 
men dare to do right if they wish to be successful and 
respected. Let them dare to do right for the sake of 
their fellow man who is striving for an honest living. 
Let them dare to do right and not wait for the law to 
compel them. Let them remember that there is some- 
thing in an honest name which they cannot afford to lose ! 

To the consumer of spices, this should be said: Be will- 
ing your grocer should live and obtain a profit for his 
work. Do not compel him to handle adulterated goods 
by quoting him the price of his neighbor dealer who 
sells the adulterated stock. Spices of high order are 
more costly, but are cheap to the consumer by reason of 
excess of flavor and strength. Let your dealer know 
you can appreciate a good article and, if he handles 
adulterated goods, remind him " that he may fool all the 
people some of the time, and some of the people all of 
the time, but he can't fool all of the people all of the 
time." 

[ 12 ] 



*As an illustration of the extent of the adulteration of 
spices, the fact may be cited that one firm in New York 
City used and j^ut upon the market in their spices more 
than 5,000 pounds of cocoanut shells. To show how 
bold the custom has become, the following quotation is 
copied from a journal devoted to spices: 

All necessary information for spice manufacturing supplied." 

And the following advertisements appear: 

Manufacturers of spice mixtures and mustard. Goods made to 
order for wholesale." 

Grocei's' spice mixtures and cayenne pepper a specialty." 

Another reads : 

Manufacturers of all kinds of spice mixtures. My celebrated 
brand of P. D. pepper is superior to any made; samples sent on appli- 
cation. Goods shipped to all parts of the United States. Spice 
mixtures a specialty." 

Out of all samples obtained at random from the miller 
or retail dealer, one-half to two-thirds have been found 
to be adulterated. Such a state of affairs is simply 
barbarous. 

Cloves were prepared with the volatile oil extracted, 
and with the cloves there were ground clove-stems, 
roasted shells, wheat flour, peas, and minerals. 

Allspice is ground with burnt shells and crackers, 
spent clove stems and charcoal and mineral color. 

Ginger, with corn flour, mustard hulls, coloring, and 
yellow corn meal. 

Mace, with flour buckwheat, wild mace, and corn meal. 

Cayenne, with rice flour, stale shipstufl*, yellow corn 
meal, tumeric, and mineral red. 

Cassia, with ground shells and crackers, tumeric, and 
minerals. 

Cinnamon, with cassia, peas, starch, mustard hulls 
and tumeric, mineral cracker dust, burnt shells, or char- 
coal. 

Pepper, with refuse of all kinds, ground crackers, 
cocoanut shells, cayenne, peas, beans, yellow corn meal, 

* Since the words on adulterations were written, the pure food laws 
of the different states have been greatly enforced, which has reduced 
adulterating almost to an entirety ; but enough yet remains to make 
them of value. 

[ 13 1 



buckwheat hulls, nutmegs, cereal, starch, mustard hulls, 
rice flour, charcoal, and pepper dust. 

Mustard, with tumeric for color, and cayenne to tone 
it up, cereal starch, peas, yellow corn meal, ginger, and 
gypsum. 

By comparing prices in the following table of ground 
and whole spices, we may see to what extent adulteration 
is carried on. This adulteration is so largely practiced 
that it has given rise to a branch of the manufacturing 
industry of great magnitude, which has for its sole ob- 
ject the manufacture of articles known as " spice mix- 
tures," or " pepper dust," which are known to the trade 
by such technical abbreviations as "P. D." This is a 
venerable fraud, which has expanded with rapidity. 

TABLE 



KINDS OF SPICE PRODUCT 


GROUND 


WHOLE PRICE 


Cassia, Batavia, 

Cassia, China, 

Cassia, Saigon, 

Cloves, Amboyna, .... 

Ginger, African, 

Ginger, Cochin, 

Mace, 

Nutmegs, 110s, 

Pepper, black, Singapore, . 
Pepper, black, West Coast, . 
Pepper, white, Penang, . 
Pepper, red, Zanzibar, . 

Pimento, 

Mustard, yellow, 

Mustard, brown, 


7 to 7/^ cents 

5/{ cents 

36 to 40 cents 

27 cents 

5 cents 

13 cents 

50 cents 

48 cents 

1 8 cents 

l6 cents 

29 cents 

9 cents 

5 cents 

4 cents 

5 cents 


10 cents 
42 cents 

32 cents 

8 cents 

12 cents 

18 cents 
15 cents 
32 cents 
10 cents 

12 cents 
12 cents 



Of course, the above prices are standard for the year 
when the comparison was made, but it is well to examine 
the figures as given and compare the price of the whole 
spice with the ground. Such comparison affords good 
indications of the extent of adulteration, since the meal 
is sold below the cost of the whole spice. We now find 
this article put up in barrels, as " P. D. Pepper," " P. 
D. Ginger," " P. D. Cloves," and so on through the en- 
tire aromatic list. Different cities use different material 
for their pepper dust, using that which is most easily and, 
therefore, most cheaply obtained in their locality. 

[ 14 ] 



Fig. 20 




Fig. 38. LINSEED 



Fig. 40. EXTERIOR HUSK OF 
RAPE SEED 



CHAPTER III. 

HOW TO DETECT ADULTERATIONS IN SPICES THEIR 

FORMATION AND ANALYSIS 

AS far as its practical use to the merchant or con- 
sumer of spices is concerned, it would be as well, 
perhaps, if this chapter remained unwritten, and 
yet this treatise would be far from complete without it, 
as much of that which is herein contained is of the ut- 
most importance, could it be put into practice. 

In this chapter I attempt to give ways to detect adul- 
terations, but the lamentable fact is that the general mer- 
chants have neither the time nor the facilities at hand 
to discover the foreign substance. 

There are two principal ways of detecting adultera- 
tions in spices, which depend upon the difference in the 
structure of the cells between the adulterants and the 
true spice to which they are added, and also on their 
proximate composition. The former difference is rec- 
ognized by the mechanical separation and by the use of 
the microscope, and the latter by chemical analysis. 

The adulterations found in spices may be classed in 
four grades: 

First. Integuments of grains of seeds, such as bran 
of wheat and buckwheat, hulls of mustard seed, flax 
seed, etc. 

Second. Farinaceous substances of low price, as 
spice damaged in transportation or by long storage, 
middlings, corn meal, and stale ship bread. 

Third. Leguminous seeds, as peas and beans, which 
contribute largely to the profit of the mixer. 

Fourth. Various articles chosen with reference to 
their suitableness to bring up the mixtures, as nearly as 
possible, to the required standard color of the genuine 
article; various shades from light colors to dark brown 
may be obtained by skillful roasting of the farinaceous 
and leguminous substances, and a little tumeric goes a 

[ 15 ] 



long way to give a rich yellow color to real mustard made 
from pale counterfeit of wheat flour and terra-alba, or 
the defective paleness of artificial black pepper is 
brought to the desired tone by judicious sifting in of 
a finely pulverized charcoal. 

From what has been said of the different foreign sub- 
stances used for adulterations of spices and condiments, 
the necessity of knowing the structure and formation 
of the molecules of both principal and foreign elements 
which constitute the principal tissues of the particular 
plant-parts used for the adulterations is apparent, while 
in the chemical examination the principle of proximate 
analysis must be understood and applied. 

It is also necessary that the analyst should be thor- 
oughly acquainted with the application of the micro- 
scope, to determine the cellular structure, to make deter- 
minations of proximate principles in the substances 
under examination, since a mechanical separation by the 
microscope is more expeditious and is more at the com- 
mand of the majority of persons searching for adultera- 
tions. For a mechanical analysis of food separations, 
a powerful microscope of good workmanship is re- 
quired. It is better if it is supplied with a substance 
condenser and Nical prisms for the use of polarized 
light. Objectives of an inch and half inch, and, for 
some starches, one-fifth inch, equivalent focus, are suffi- 
cient. One eye-piece of medium depth, one-fourth to 
one-sixth, adjusted at 160 degrees is enough, with plenty 
of good light. The analyst should also have plenty of 
sieves of 40 to 60 meshes to the inch to be used for sepa- 
ration, which will furnish means of detecting adulter- 
ants and selecting particles for investigation, and will 
often reveal the presence of foreign material without 
further examination, since many adulterants are not 
ground so fine as the spices to which they are added, 
and by passing the mixtures through the sieves the 
coarser particles remaining will be either recognized at 
once by an unaided educated eye or with a pocket lens. 

In this way, tumeric is readily separated from mus- 
tard and yellow corn meal; mustard hulls and cayenne, 
from low-grade pepper. Where a pocket lens is insuffi- 

[ 16 ] 



cient, the higher power of the microscope is confirma- 
tory. It is also desirable to be provided with a dissect- 
ing microscope for selecting particles for examination 
from large masses of ground spice, and for this a large 
Zeiss stand, made for that purpose, is best, but simpler 
forms, or even a hand lens, will answer the purpose. 

For smaller apparatus, a few beakers, watch crystals, 
stirring rods, and specimen tubes, with bottles for re- 
agents, will be sufficient, in addition to the ordinary 
glass slides and covers for glasses. The reagents re- 
quired for chemical analysis (if no great amount is 
used) are as follows: 

Strong alcohol. 

Ammonia, 

Chloralhydrate solution — 8 parts to 5 of water. 

Glycerine, 

Iodine solution — water 15 parts, iodide of potash 
20 parts, iodine 5 parts ; water distilled. 

Balsam in benzol and glycerine jelly are desirable for 
mounting media, and some wax sheets will be needed 
for making cells. In addition, the analyst should sup- 
ply himself with specimens of whole spices, starches, 
and known adulterants, which may be used to become 
acquainted with the forms and appearances to be ex- 
pected ; it is easier to begin one's study in this way 
on sections prepared with the knife, and afterwards the 
powdered substance may be taken up. 

To study the physiological structure in the spices and 
their adulterants is quite difficult, as the vegetable tissues 
which make up the structure of the spices and the mate- 
rials of a vegetable origin which are added as adultera- 
tions consist of cells of different forms and thickness; 
those which are most prominent and common are the 
parenchyma, the sclerenchyma fibrous tissue, and the 
fibro-vascular bundles. Spiral and dotted vessels are 
also common in several of the adulterants, and in the 
epidermis are other forms of tissue which it is neces- 
sary to be well acquainted with, though not physio- 
logically. 

The parenchyma is the most abundant tissue in all 
material of vegetable origin, m^aking up the largest pro- 

[ 17 ] 



portion of the main part of the plant. It is composed 
of thin wall cells which may be recognized in the potato 
and in the interior of the stems of maize. In the latter 
plant, also, the fibro-vascular system is well exemplified, 
running as scattered bundles between the nodes or joints. 

Fibrous tissue consists of elongated thick-walled cells 
of fibers which are very common in the vegetable king- 
dom and are well illustrated in flax, but they are not so 
coromonly used for adulterating purposes. They are 
optically active, and in the shorter forms they somewhat 
resemble the cells next described. They are seen in one 
of the coats of buckwheat hulls and in the outer husks 
of the cocoanut. 

The sclerenchyma is found in the shells of many nuts 
and in one or two of the spices, the cells being known as 
stone cells, from the great thickening of their walls. 
To them is due the hardness of the shell of the cocoanut, 
the pits of the olive, etc. (See Fig. 1.) 

Spiral and dotted vessels are common in woody tissue 
and are readily recognized. All these forms an analyst 
should make himself familiar with. 

In pepper and mustard the parenchyma cells are prom- 
inent in the interior of the berry, while those constituting 
the outer coats are indistinct in the pepper, because of 
their deep color; but in the mustard are characteristics 
of this particular species. In fact, in many of the 
spices, and especially those which are seeds, the forms 
of the epidermal cells are very striking, and, if no at- 
tempt is made to classify them their peculiarities must 
be carefully noted, as the recognition of the presence of 
foreign husky matter depends upon a knowledge of 
the normal appearance in any spice. 

The fibro-vascular bundles are most prominent in 
ginger and in the barks, while in the powdered spices 
they are found as stringy particles. 

The sclerenchyma, or stone cells, as shown in Fig. 1, 
are common in the adulterant, especially in cocoanut 
shells, where may also be seen numerous spiral cells, and 
in the exterior coats of fibrous tissue. 

As to aids to distinguish these structures, the follow- 
ing peculiarities may be cited : 

[ 18 ] 



Fijr. 3 




Fig. 2. STARCH STAINED WITH IODINE 
Fig. 5 




Fig. 4. POTATO STARCH 



The stone cells and fibrous tissue are optically active, 
and are, therefore, readily detected with polarized light, 
shining out in the dark field of the microscope as silver- 
white or yellowish bodies. 

The fibro-vascular bundles are stained deep orange 
brown with iodine, owing to the nitrogenous matter 
which they contain, while parenchyma is not affected 
by this reagent, aside from the cell contents, nor has it 
any action on polarized light, remaining quite invisible 
in the field with crossed prisms. 

Next to cellular tissue, starch is the most important 
element for consideration in the plant, which possesses 
an organized structure and is distinguished by its re- 
action with iodine solution, which gives it a deep blue or 
blackish-blue color, varying somewhat with different 
kinds of starch and with the strength of the reagent, and 
its absence is marked by no blue color under the same 
circumstances. 

Heat, however, as in the process of baking, so alters 
starches, converting them into dextrine and related 
bodies, that they give a brown color with iodine, instead 
of a blue-black; they are no longer starch, however; 
their form, not being essentially changed, permits of 
their identification, with a study of the size and shape 
of the granules of the hilum, or central depressions of 
nucleus, and the prominence and position of the rings. 

By polarized light and selenite, the starches of tubers 
showed a more varied play of colors than the cereal and 
leguminous starches which are produced above ground. 

The starches we are to consider are those of a limited 
number to be met with in spices and their adulterants, 
and one must be able readily to recognize the fol- 
lowing : 

STARCH NATURAL TO SPICES AND STARCHES OF ADMIXTURES 

CONDIMENTS Wheat and other Cereals : 
Ginger, Corn, Barley, 

Pepper, Oats, Potato. 

Nutmegs, Maranta and other arrowroots : 



Cassia, 
Piment 
Cinnan 
Cayenne 



Rice, Sago, 

J™^^*^' Beans, Buckwheat. 

Cinnamon, p^^^ 

[ 19 ] 



No one of these is complete in itself, but from the 
characters given, and with the aid of illustrations, the 
starches which commonly occur in substances which are 
here considered may usually be identified without diffi- 
culty. 

For the benefit of those who have had no experience 
with the microscope, I will give the following directions : 

Take a small portion of the starch or spice to be ex- 
amined upon a clean camel's hair brush and dust it upon 
a common slide, blow the excess away and moisten that 
retained with a drop of a mixture of equal parts of glyc- 
erine and water, or with glycerine and camphor water, 
and cover with a glass. It is well to have a small supply 
of the common starches in a series of tubes which can 
be mounted at any moment and used for comparison. 
They may be permanently mounted by making with 
cork borers, of two sizes, a wax cell ring equal to the 
diameter of the cover glass and, after cementing the cell 
to the slide with copal varnish thinned with turpentine 
and introducing the starch and glycerine mixture, fix- 
ing the cover glass on after running some of the cement 
over the top of the ring. A little experience will enable 
one to put the right amount of liquid in the cell and to 
make a preparation that will keep for some time. After 
several months, however, it is hard to distinguish the 
rings which mark the development of the granule, and 
it is better to keep it fresh. 

For other purposes, the starches should be mounted 
in prepared Canada Balsam, or by well-known methods 
in which they may be preserved indefinitely, but they are 
scarcely visible with ordinary illumination and must be 
viewed by polarized light, which will bring out distinc- 
tive characters not seen as well, or not at all, in the other 
mounts. When mounted in the manner described, in 
glycerine and water, or in water alone, if for temporary 
use, under a microscope with one objective of equivalent 
focus of one-half to one-fifth inch, and with means for 
oblique ilhimination, the starches will display charac- 
teristics which are illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The 
illustrations have been drawn from Nature ; Fig. 2 gives 
starch stained with iodine; Fig. 3 gives shape and size 

[ 20 ] 




Fig-. 6 Fig. 7 

POTATO STARCH 



Fig. 9 



Fig. 10 




Fig. 8. MARUNTA STARCH 



of plain starch, and presence or absence of a nucleus, or 
hilum, and of the rings and their arrangements which 
can be made out. The starch is classed in its proper place. 

If mounted in balsam, their appearance is scarcely 
visible under any form of illumination with ordinary 
light, the index refraction of the granules and the bal- 
sam being so similar, but when polarized hght is used 
the effect is a striking one. (See plates of ginger, 
where it is easy to distinguish all the characteristics, 
except the rings, the center of the cross being at the 
nucleus of the granule.) 

The principal starches which are met with may be 
described as follows in connection with illustrations 
given, beginning with those of the arrowroot class, 
including potato, ginger, and tumeric. 

POTATO STAECH 

Potato starch grains are very variable in size, being 
found from .05 to .10 millimeter in length, and in shape 
from oval and allied forms to irregular, and even round 
in the smallest ; these variations are illustrated in Fig. 4, 
but the frequency of the smaller granules is not as evi- 
dent as in Figs. 5 and 6. The layers in some granules 
are very plain and in others are hardly visible. They 
are rather more prominent in the starch obtained from a 
freshly cut surface. The rings are more distinct near 
the hilum, or nucleus, which in this, as in all tuberous 
starches, is eccentric, shading off toward the broader or 
more expanded portion of the granules. 

The hilum appears as a shadowy depression (Fig. 4) 
and, with polarized light, its position is well marked by 
the junction of the arms of the cross. It will be found 
by comparison of Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, that in the potato 
it is more often at the smaller end of the granules, and 
that in the arrowroot it is at the larger. With polarized 
light and a selenite plate a beautiful play of colors is 
obtained. 

The smaller granules, by their nearly round shape, 
may be confused with other starches, but their presence 
at once serves to distinguish them from JNIaranta or 
Bermuda arrowroot starch. 

[ 21 ] 



Rarely, compound granules are found composed 
of two or three single ones each within its own 
nucleus. 

Of the same type as the potato starch are various 
arrowroots. The only ones commonly met with in 
this country are the Bermuda, the starch of the 
rhizome of Maranta arundinacea, and the starch of 
tumeric. 

MARANTA STARCH 

The granules are not usually so varied in size or shape 
as those of the potato, as may be seen in Figs. 8, 9, and 
10. They average about .07 millimeters in length. They 
are about the same size as the average of those of the 
potato, but are never found as large or as small. This 
fact, together with the fact that the end at which the 
nucleus appears is broader in the Maranta and more 
pointed in the potato, enables one to distinguish the 
starches without difficulty. With polarized light, the 
results are similar to those seen with potato starch, and, 
by this means, the two varieties may be readily distin- 
guished by displaying, in a striking way, the forms of 
the granule and the position of the hilum, as is illus- 
trated in Figs. 8 and 9. 

CIRCUMA 

Circuma, or tumeric starch (Fig. 11), though of the 
arrowroot class, is quite distinct in appearance from 
these we have described, being most irregular in outline, 
so that it is impossible to define its shape or to do more 
than to refer to the illustration. JMany of the granules 
are long and narrow and drawn out to quite a point. The 
rings are distinct in the larger, and the size is about that 
of Maranta. 

Ginger starch (Figs. 12, 13, and 14) is of the same 
class as potato and JNIaranta and several others which are 
of underground origin. In outline, it is not oval like 
those named, but is more rectangular, having more 
obtuse angles in the larger granules and being cylindrical 
or circular in outline in the smaller; its average size is 
nearly the same as Maranta starch, but it is much more 
variable in size and form, the rings being scarcely visible 

[ 22 ] 



Fig. 18 




Fig. 46. CINNAMON ADULTERATED 



Fig. 15. BEANS 



Fig. 43. PEPPER ADULTERATED 



Fig. 21 




Fig. 42. P. D. PEPPER 



Fig. 28 



Fig. 29 




Fig. 27. RICE STARCH 



even with most favorable illuminations. Fig. 12 shows 
ginger adulterated. 

LEGUMINOUS STAECHES 

Such as those of beans and peas (Figs. 15, 16, 17, and 
18), produce but a slight effect under polarized hght; 
the rings are scarcely visible, and the hilum is stellate 
or much cracked along a median line. This character- 
istic is more marked in the bean than in the pea. In the 
latter it resembles fresh dough kneaded again into the 
center as in making rolls, and in the former the shape 
assumed by the same after baking. In both it varies in 
size from .025 to .10 millimeter in length. 

NUTMEG STAKCH 

Fig. 19 has rings scarcely visible and not iridescent 
with polarized light. It is smaller in size than the pre- 
ceding, which it resembles, being at times as long as .05 
millimeter down to smaller than .005 millimeter, and of 
extremely irregular form, having angular depressions 
and angular outlines. It is distinguished by a budded 
appearance caused by the adherence of small granules to 
the larger. 

CAPSICUM STAUCH 

Fig. 20 is nearly circular or rounded polyhedral in 
forms with scarcely visible rings, and in most cases a 
depressed hilum, resembling in size and shape corn starch, 
but having peculiar irregularities which distinguish it, 
such as rosette-like formation on a flattened granule, or 
a round depression at one end. It does not polarize as 
actively as maize starch and can be distinguished from 
rice by the greater angularity of the latter. 

PEPPER STARCH 

Fig. 21 is the most minute starch which is usually met 
with, not averaging over .001 millimeter nor exceeding 
.005. It is irregularly polyhedral and polarizes very 
well, but requires a high power to discover any detail 
when a hilum is found. It cannot be confused with 
other starches. 

[ 23 ] 



CINNAMON STARCH 

Figs. 22 and 23 have an extremely irregular poly- 
hedral or distorted granules, often united in groups with 
smaller granules and adherent to the larger ones. In 
size, it varies from .001 to .025 millimeter, averaging 
nearly the latter size. In some granules the hilum can 
be distinguished, but no rings; it is readily detected 
with polarized light. 

BUCKWHEAT STARCH 

Fig. 24 is very characteristic. It consists of a chain 
or groups of angular granules with a not very evident 
circular nucleus and without rings. The outline is 
strikingly angular and the size not very variable, being 
about .01 to .015 millimeter. 

MAIZE OR CORN STARCH 

Figs. 25 and 26 have granules largely of the same 
size from .02 to .03 millimeter in diameter, with now and 
then a few which are much smaller ; they are mostly cir- 
cular in shape or, rather, polyhedral with rounded angles. 
They form very brilliant objects with polarized light, 
but with ordinary illumination show but the faintest 
signs of rings and a well-developed hilum, at times star- 
shaped and at others more like a circular depression. 

RICE STARCH 

Figs. 27, 28, and 29, is very similar to corn starch, and 
is easily confused with it, being about the same size. It 
is, however, distinguished from it by its polygonal form 
and its well-defined angles. The hilum is more promi- 
nent and more often stellate, or linear, and several grains 
are at times united. 

WHEAT STARCH 

Figs. 30 and 31 are quite variable in size, varying 
from .05 to .012 millimeter in diameter, and this starch 
belongs to the same class as barley and rye ; the hilum is 
invisible and the rings are not prominent; the granules 
are circular disks in form, and there are now and then 
contorted depressions, resembling those in the pea 

[ 24 ] 



Fig. 41. PURE CASSIA 



Fig. 23 




Fig. 22. PURE CINNAMON 



Fig. 26 




Fig. 23. MAIZE STARCH 



Fig. 31 




Fig. 30. WHEAT STARCH 



Fig. 33 




Fig. .32. BARLEY STARCH 



starch; it is the least regular of the three starches and 
does not polarize actively. 

BAELEY STARCH 

Figs. 32 and 33 are quite similar to that of wheat, but 
barley starch does not vary so much in size, averaging 
.05 millimeter. It has rings more distinct and very 
small granules adhering to the largest in bud-like forms. 

RYE STARCH 

Fig. 34 is more variable in size, many of the granules 
not exceeding .02 millimeter while the largest reach .06 
to .07 millimeter. It lacks distinctive characteristics 
entirely, and is the most simple in form of all starches 
described. 

OAT STARCH 

Figs. 35 and 36, is unique, being composed of large 
compound masses of polyhedral granules from .12 to 
.02 millimeter in length, the single granules averaging 
.02 to .015 millimeter. It does not polarize actively, 
as may be seen in the figures, and displays neither rings 
nor hilum. 

The first sign of maize or corn meal as an adulterant 
is the thin outer coat which becomes detached in milling 
and is not readily crushed. In yellow corn it has a pink- 
ish color, and simple, longitudinal cells. 

Broken rice is sometimes used as a dilutant; it may 
be recognized by the brilliant appearance of the hard 
white particles which may be picked out of the spice 
under a hand lens. 

The two cereals named (broken rice and maize corn) 
are the only ones which are commonly met with that 
introduce starch. 

Wheat bran (Fig. 37) is occasionally added, which can 
be recognized by its distinctive structural character and 
is better understood from an authentic specimen, which 
should be soaked in chloral-hydrate. 

As modified cereals, we find refuse bread, cracker dust, 
and stale ship bread, in which the wheat starch is much 
changed from its original form by the heat and moisture, 
so that at times it might be confused with leguminous 

[ 25 ] 



starch, but the softness of the particles and the ease with 
which they fall to pieces in water reveal their true name. 

Oil seed, oil cake, and husk (Figs. 38, 39, and 40) are 
very commonly used and are readily recognized by the 
peculiar structure of the outer coats of the seed. The 
particles, which can be usually found and selected with 
a dissecting microscope, should be examined in alcohol 
or glycerine, or a mixture of the two, as the outer coats 
of some seeds, such as mustard, are swollen by water and 
become indistinct. Many varieties of the cruciferous 
seeds resemble it very much, so that it is difficult to dis- 
tinguish them, but it is generally recognized by the 
outer layer of hexagonal cells and a middle and inner 
coating, which consists of peculiar angular cells, the lat- 
ter being much larger than the former, which are the 
most characteristic feature, and should be compared with 
seeds of known origin. After soaking in chloral- 
hydrate, the remaining interior layers are, perhaps, more 
easily made out, in some cases, after moderate bleaching 
with nitric acid and chlorate ; the interior of this seed is 
not blued by iodine. 

Peanut, or ground nut cake, is recognized by the char- 
acteristic structure of the red-brownish coat, which sur- 
rounds the seed, and consists of polygonal cells with 
peculiar saw-toothed thickening of the walls. The seed 
itself consists of polygonal cells full of oil and starch 
granules, which are globular in form and not easily 
confused with pepper starch. The structure of the 
brown membrane is best made out in chloral-hydrate, 
which removes the red color and leaves the fragments 
of a bright yellow. 

Linseed cake is distinguished by the fact that its husk 
is made up of one or two characteristic elements. The 
outer coat, or epidermis, is colorless and swells up in 
water, forming a mucilage, like the mustard seed. Be- 
neath this is a layer of thin, round, yellow cells, while 
the third is very characteristic and consists of narrow and 
very thick- walled dotted vessels; next to these is an 
inner layer of compact polygonal cells, with fairly thin, 
but still thickly dotted, white walls and dark-brown con- 
tents containing tumeric. The endogen and embryo are 

[ 26 ] 



Fig. 36. 




Fig. 35. OAT STARCH 




Fig. 46. 




POWDERED ALLSPICE 
SHOWING PORT WINE 
CELLS. (A) STARCH 



Fig. 37. WHEAT BRAN 



\ 

free from starch and will not color yellow by potash, as 
is the case with mustard and rape seed cake. 

Cocoanut shells are often used, and have numerous, 
both long and short, stone cells and spiral vessels from 
this fibrous tissue; the long stone cells having thinner 
walls than the shorter cells, all of which are readily seen 
after bleaching. When the shells are roasted, they 
refuse to bleach, and it is then only possible to class the 
particles, on which the reagents do not act, as roasted 
shells or charcoal, which are frequently used in pepper to 
give desired color to material rendered too light by white 
adulterants. 

Buckwheat, after bleaching, shows a preponderance 
of tissue made up of long, slender, and pointed scleren- 
chyma cells and a smaller amount of reticulated tissue, 
resembling the cereals somewhat and cayenne pepper. 
Portions of the interior of the seed are also visible and 
consist of an agglomeration of small hexagonal cells 
which originally contained starch. The starch is readily 
recognized by its peculiar characteristics. The scleren- 
chyma is, of course, optically active and forms a beauti- 
ful and distinctive object with polarized light. Sawdust 
of various woods may be recognized by the fragments 
of various spiral and dotted vessels and fibrous 
material which are not found in spices or in other 
adulterants. 

Rice bran is made up prominently of two series of 
cells at right angles to each other, which make up the 
outer coats of grain, the structure being best made out 
after soaking in chloral-hj'^drate ; the cells of one series 
are long, small, and thin-walled, and are arranged in 
parallel bundles ; the others have very much thicker walls 
and are only two or three times as long as they 
are broad. 

Clove stems are distinguished by their peculiar yellow 
dotted vessels and their large and quite numerous cells, 
neither of which is seen prominently in the substances 
which are adulterated. The peculiarities of adulterants 
should be carefully confirmed and the eye trained by 
practice so as to become accustomed to recognizing their 
structure by a study of the actual substance. 

[ 27 ] 



CHEMICAL EXAMINATIONS 

Take one gram of powdered spice which will pass a 
60-mesh sieve and dry at 150 degrees to 110 degrees C. 
in an air bath provided with a regulator, until a succes- 
sive weighing shows a gain, which denotes that oxidiza- 
tion has begun, which takes about 12 hours, or over night ; 
the loss is water, together with the largest part of volatile 
oil. Deduction of the volatile oil, as determined in the 
ether extract, will give a close approximation of water. 
The ash portion is determined by incineration at a very 
low temperature, such as may be attained in a gas muffle, 
which is the most convenient arrangement for work of 
this kind. The j)roportion of ash insoluble in acid may 
be determined where there is a reason to believe that sand 
is present. 

To find the amount of volatile oil by ether extract : 
Two grains of substance are extracted for twentj^-four 
hours in a siphoning extraction apparatus, being first 
placed in a test tube, which is inserted into a continuous 
extraction apparatus of the intermittent siphon class, the 
tube used being an ordinary test tube, the bottom of which 
has been blown out. A wad of washed cotton of suffi- 
cient thickness is put in the lower end of the 
tubes to prevent any solid particles of the 
sample from finding their way into the receiv- 
ing flask; another wad of cotton is packed on 
top of the sample, and the apparatus is then so adjusted 
that the condensed ether drops into the tube and perco- 
lates through the sample siphons into the receiving flask. 
In this way the operation is continued the length of time 
named. The best ether should be used to avoid extract- 
ing substances other than oil soluble in alcohol, and to 
continue the extraction for at least the time named, as 
piperine and several other proximate principles are not 
extremely soluble in ether. On stopping the extraction, 
the extract is washed into a light, weighed, glass dish, 
and the ether is allowed to evaporate spontaneously, but 
not too rapidly,* for the reason that water, which is diffi- 
cult to remove, might be condensed into the dish. In a 
short time the ether will disappear, and the dish is placed 

[ 28 ] 



Fig. 34 



Fig. 11 




Fig. 24 
Fig. 13. PURE GINGER 



Fig. 19 



Fig. 14 




Fig. 12. GINGER ADULTERATED 



in a dessicator \vith pumice and sulphuric acid, not with 
chloride of calcium, which has been shown to be useless. 
It is allowed to remain over night to remove any mois- 
ture ; the loss of oil by this process is scarcely appreciable. 
The dish is next weighed and afterward heated to 110 
degrees C. for some hours, to drive off the volatile oil, 
beginning at a low temperature, as the oil is easily oxi- 
dized, and then is not volatile oil. The residue is 
w^eighed, the difference being calculated to volatile oil 
and examined as to its composition of purity. 

Alcohol extract is made in the same manner as the 
ether extract, using, of course, the substance extracted. 
The solvent may be either absolute alcohol — that of 95 
per cent, by volume, or 80 per cent, by weight, the latter 
being preferable in most cases, as there is no definite 
point with the stronger spirit at which the extraction is 
completed. 

The amount of reducing material produced by boil- 
ing the spices with dilute acids serves with several as 
an index of purity. In the case of pepper, which con- 
tains a large amount of starch, the addition of fibrous 
adulterants reduces the equivalent of reducing sugar, 
which are indicated in the solution after boiling with 
acid. Tumeric is always found in spices, such as 
cloves and pimento of good quality. 

It has been said that preliminary extractions of the 
material with the best ether is necessary to remove oil 
and other substances, not tannin on which permanganate 
may act; ordinary ether will not answer, as it contains 
so much alcohol and water as to dissolve some of the tan- 
nin. The substance freed from ether should be ex- 
tracted with boiling water and the extract made up to 
such dilution that 10 CC. is equal to about 10 CC. of the 
thirtieth normal, — permanganate solution used. The 
titration must be performed slowly to insure accuracy, 
the permanganate being run in at the rate of not more 
than a drop in a second, or three drops in two seconds. 
The eye must become accustomed to the bleaching of the 
indigo used, and select some one tint of yellow, as the 
end of reaction is then possible to duplicate. That part 
of the material analyzed, which is insoluble in acid and 

[ 29 ] 



alkali of certain strength after treatment for a definite 
length of time, at a definite temperature, is called crude 
fiber J and it may be described as follows : 

Select two grains of substance 200 CC. of 5 per cent, 
hydrochloric acid; steam bath two hours, raising the 
liquid to a temperature of 90 degrees to 95 degrees C. 
filtration on linen cloth, washing back into beaker with 
200 CC. 5 per cent, sodic-hydrate ; steam bath two hours, 
filtration on asbestos, washing with hot water, alcohol, 
and ether, drying at 120 degrees, weighing, ignition and 
crude fiber from loss in weight. 

REAGENTS AND APPARATUS 

(1.) Hydrochloric acid whose absolute strength has 
been determined. 

(a.) By precipitating with silver nitrate and weigh- 
ing the silver chloride. 

(b.) By sodium carbonate, as described in Fresenius 
Quantitative Analysis, second American edition, page 
680 (c), by determining the amount neutralized by 
the distillate from a weighed quantity of pure am- 
monium-chloride boiled with an excess of sodium- 
hydrate. 

(2). Standard ammonia whose strength relative to 
the acid has been accurately determined. 

(3). C. P. sulphuric acid specific gravity 1.83, free 
from nitrates, and also from ammonium sulphates, 
which are sometimes added in the process of manufac- 
ture to destroy oxides of nitrogen. 

(4) . Mercuric-oxide, Hgo, prepared in the wet way. 
That prepared from mercury nitrate cannot safely be used. 

(5). Potassium permanganate tolerably finely pul- 
verized. 

(6). Granulated zinc. 

(7). A solution of 40 grams of commercial potas- 
sium sulphide in one liter of water. 

(8). A saturated solution of sodium-hydrate, free 
from nitrates which are sometimes added in the process 
of manufacture to destroy organic matter and improve 
the color of the product. 

[ 30 ] 



(9). Solution of cochineal, prepared according to 
Fresenius Quantitive Analysis, second American edi- 
tion, page 679. 

(10). Burettes should be calibrated in all cases by 
the user. 

(11). Digestion flasks of hard, and moderately 
thick, well-annealed glass, which should be about 9 
inches long, with a round, pear-shaped bottom, having a 
maximum diameter of 2^/2 inches and tapering out grad- 
ually in a long neck, which is three-fourths of an inch 
in diameter at the narrowest part and flared a little at 
the edge. The total capacity is 225 to 250 cubic centi- 
meters. 

( 12) . Distillation flasks of ordinary shape, 550 cubic 
centimeters capacity, and fitted with rubber stoppers, 
and a bulb tube above to prevent the possibility of 
sodium-hydrate being carried over mechanically during 
distillation ; this is adjusted to the tube of the condenser 
by a rubber tube. 

(13) . A condenser with tube of block tin is best, as 
glass is decomposed by steam and ammonia vapor, and 
will give up alkali enough to impair accuracy ; the tank 
should be made of copper, supported by wooden frame, 
so that its bottom is 11 inches above the workbench on 
which it stands. It should be about 16 inches high, 32 
inches long, and 3 inches wide, gradually widening 6 
inches toward the top ; the water-supply tube should ex- 
tend to the bottom, and there should be a larger over- 
flow pipe above. 

The block tin condensing tubes should be about % of 
an inch inner measure and seven in number, entering the 
tank through holes in the front side of it near the top 
above the level of the overflow, and pass down perpen- 
dicularly through the tank and out through the rubber 
stoppers, tightly fitted into holes in the bottom; they 
should project 1% inches below the bottom of the tank, 
and connect by short rubber tubes, with glass bulb tubes, 
of the usual shape, which dip into glass precipitating 
beakers. These beakers should project about 6^/^ 
inches high by 3 inches in diameter below, gradually nar- 
rowing above, and should be about 500 cubic centimeters 

[ 31 ] 



capacity. The titration can be made directly in them. 
The seven distillation flasks should be supported on a 
sheet-iron shelf attached to the wooden frame which 
supports the tank at the front; where each flask is to 
stand, a circular hole should be cut with three project- 
ing lips to support the wire gauze under the flask, and 
three other lips to hold the flask in place, and to pre- 
vent its moving laterally out of place while distillation 
is going on. Below the sheet-iron shelf should be a 
metal tube carrying seven Bunsen burners, each with a 
stopcock like those of a gas combustion furnace. These 
burners are of larger diameter at the top, which prevents 
smoking when covered with fine gauze to prevent the 
flame from striking back. 

(14). The stand for holding the digestion flask 
should consist of a pan of sheet iron, 29 inches long by 
8 inches wide, on the front of which is fastened a shelf 
of sheet iron as long as the pan, 5 inches wide and 4 
inches high. In this are cut six holes 1% inches in 
diameter. At the back of the pan is a stout wire running 
lengthwise of the stand, 8 inches high, with a bend or 
depression opposite each hole in the shelf. The diges- 
tion flask rests with its lower part over a hole in the shelf 
and its neck in one of the depressions in the wire frame, 
which holds it securely in position, and heat should be 
supplied with Bunsen burners below the shelf. 

THE DETERMINATION 

One gram of the substance to be analjrzed is brought 
into a digestion flask with approximately 0.7 grams of 
mercuric-oxide, and 20 cubic centimeters of sulphuric 
acid, and the flask is placed on the frame described in an 
inclined position, and heated below the boiling point of 
the acid for from five to fifteen minutes, or until froth- 
ing has ceased. The heat is then raised until it boils 
briskly. No further attention is required until the con- 
tents of the flask have become a clear liquor, which is 
colorless, or, at least, has only a very pale straw color. 

The flask is then removed from the flame, held 
upright, and, while yet hot, potassium permanganate is 
dropped in carefully and in small quantities at a time 

[ S2 ] 



until, after shaking, the hquid remains of a green or 
purple color. 

After cooling, the contents of the flask are then trans- 
ferred to the distilling flask with water, and to this 25 
cubic centimeters of potassium-sulphide solution are 
added, 50 cubic centimeters of the soda solution, or suffi- 
cient to make the reaction strongly alkaline, and with a 
few pieces of granulated zinc. 

The flask is at once connected with the condenser and 
the contents of the flask are distilled until all of the am- 
monia has passed over into the standard acid contained 
in the precipitating flask previously described and the 
concentrated solution can no longer be safely boiled. 

Tliis operation usually requires from 20 to 40 min- 
utes. The distillate is then titrated with standard am- 
monia. 

The use of the mercuric-oxide in this operation greatly 
shortens the time necessary for digestion, w^hich is rarely 
over an hour and a half in the case of substances most 
difficult to oxidize, and is more commonly less than an 
hour. 

In most cases the use of potassium permanganate is 
quite unnecessary, but it is believed that in excep- 
tional cases it is required for complete oxidation, and, in 
view of the uncertainty, it is always used. 

Potassium-sulphide removes all mercury from solu- 
tions and so prevents the formation of mercuro-am- 
monium compounds which are not completely decom- 
posed by soda solution. 

The addition of zinc gives rise to an evolution of 
hydrogen and prevents violent bumping. 

Previous to use, the reagents should be tested bj'- a 
blank experiment with sugar, which m ill partially reduce 
any nitrates that are present which might otherwise 
escape notice. 

This method cannot be used for the determination of 
nitrogen substances which contain nitrate or certain 
albumenoids. 

These methods of analysis are suitable to all spices 
and have been used with them. They are but a general 
process, however, and are dependent for their value on 

[ 33 ] 



uniformity in the way they are carried out and the man- 
ner in which pecuharities of proximate composition in 
different spices are considered in drawing conclusions; 
determinations of particular substances, such as piper- 
ine, require, however, modifications, which must be de- 
scribed when discussing the analysis of each separate 
spice. 

The chemical composition of olive stones and cocoa- 
nut shells is about as follows: 



Water, . 
Ash, . 
Fiber, 

Alburaenoids, 
Nitrogen, 



5.63 

4.28 

41.33 

1.56 

.25 



6.15 

2.15 

37.15 

1.25 

.20 



[ 34 ] 




BLACK PEPPER (Piper Nigrum) 

1 Malabar 7, 8 Parts of spikes 

2 Acheen or Sumatra 9. 10 Fruit 

'■i Manj-alore 12 Ovary with stamens 

4 Sing-apore 13 Stamens 

5 White, from PenanK, with all three coats removed 14 Portion of spike 
i; White, with one coat removed 15 A flowerincr twip: 



CHAPTER IV. 

BLACK PEPPER 

FRENCH, Poivre; German, Pfeffer; Italian, 
Pepe Nero; Spanish, Pimienta; Portuguese, 
Pimenta; Cyngalese, GammariSj Javanese, Ma- 
richa; Persian, Filfll-Seeah; Hindoostanse, Gol-mirch. 

Pepper (Piper) Nigrum, a name employed by the 
Romans, and derived by them from the Greek word 
peperi; the Greeks in their turn must have derived it 
from the Hindoos. Botanically it is applied to the 
typical genus plant of the natural order piperaceae. 

Of all the varieties of spices used as a condiment, pep- 
per is the only one which grows on a climbing vine, and 
there is no kind of spice better known or more esteemed 
or more extensively used than pepper. Its consump- 
tion is enormous. 

Black pepper is one of the earliest spices known to 
mankind, being of extreme antiquity. Choice spices 
and rare gums were among the precious treasures of the 
kings of Egypt more than two thousand years before 
the Christian era. 

The history of its development from earliest times is 
well brought out by the account given in the Pharma- 
copoeia. According to Fluckiger and Hanbury the 
spice was well known as early as the fourth century B: C. 
Arrian, the author of Periplus of the Frythrean Sea, 
which was written about A. D. 618, states that pepper 
was then imported from Barake, the shipping place of 
Nelkunda localities, which have been identified with 
points on the Malabar coast. To this spice, Venice, 
Genoa, and other commercial cities of central Europe 
are indebted for much of their wealth. 

The caravan of trading Midianites, who pur- 
chased Joseph from his brethren and sold him into 
Egypt were bearers of " spices and balm " for the 
Egyptian market, and when the sons of Jacob were 

[35 ] 



making preparations to visit the land the second time to 
propitiate the lord of the reahn, their father said to them : 
" Take of the best fruits of the land and carry down a 
little balm, and a little honey, spice, and myrrh, nuts and 
almonds." 

During the palmy days of Egypt, when they em- 
balmed all of their distinguished dead, precious gums 
and fragrant pungent sjitices were largely called into 
requisition. Even the Iraelites in their ritualistic vvor- 
ship held in such high esteem many of these rare gums 
and oils that their law forbade their use for any other 
purpose. 

Pepper received mention in the epic poems of the 
ancient Hindoos. Theophrastus differentiated between 
round and long pepper, Diascarides mentioned long pep- 
per, white pepper and black pepper, and Pliny, the 
naturalist, expressed his surprise that it should come into 
general use considering its want of flavor, and he states 
that the price of pepper in his time at Rome was nine shil- 
lings and four pence per pound, English money. Both 
he and Diascarides, as well as Hippocrates, write of the 
medicinal virtues of spices and of their use in medicine. 

Pepper has been so scarce at times and so expensive 
that one pound was considered a royal present, and was 
used like money as a medium of exchange, while at 
other times its market value has been very low. 

In its frequent mention by Roman writers of the 
Augustan age we are told that it was used by them to 
pay tribute. One of the articles demanded by Alaric, 
the daring ruler of the barbaric Visigoths in 410 A. D., 
of this conquered and greatly humiliated race was 3,000 
pounds of pepper. During this dark middle age pepper 
was so costly that rents were paid in pepper corn, the 
amount being about one pound at stated times. Even 
now in places this custom still continues. It is not, 
therefore, surprising that during the first centuries of 
the Christian era the common black pepper was prized 
as highly in the city of Rome as its weight in gold. 
Black pepper is found in the East Indian Islands, 
among which may be mentioned the Malay Archipelago, 
Java, Sumatra, Rhio, Johore. It is also a native of 

[ 36 ] 



Siam and Cochin China, and it grows wHd m the forests 
of Malabar and Travancore. It is cultivated m some 
parts of the United States and in the West India Islands. 
The early history of the pepper trade is similar to that 
of other Eastern spices. The Dutch for a long time 
confined the cultivation of it to the Island of Java. To 
accomplish this they forced its cultivation with so much 
earnestness that they defeated their own purpose and a 
more enlightened system has prevailed for the past thirty 
years. Since it is no longer under government monop- 
oly, and entire freedom is allowed in the raising of this 
spice, its cultivation has been greatly increased. 

The king of Portugal contracted with middlemen in 
each of his forts on the coast of Malabar for an annual 
supply of 30,000 quintals of pepper, and bound himself 
to send five ships every year to export that amount. All 
risk was held by the middlemen or farmers " who landed 
it in Portugal." As a compensation for this risk, the 
middlemen obtained the price of twelve ducats a quintal 
and had great and strong privileges: " First, that no 
man of what estate or condition soever he be, either Port- 
ingall or of any place in India, may deale or trade in pep- 
per, but they upon paine of death which is very sharply 
looked into. And although the pepper were for the 
king's own person, yet must the farmers pepper be first 
laden to whom the Viceroy and other officers and Cap- 
tains of India must give all assistance, helpe and favour 
with watching same and all other things whatsoever that 
shall by said farmers be required for the safetie and 
benefite of the said pepper." 

In fact, it was because the price of pepper was so high 
during the Middle Ages that the Portuguese were led to ; 
seek a sea route to India. After the passage around the 
Cape of Good Hope had been discovered, about 1496, 
there was a considerable reduction in the price of pepper, 
and when it began to be cultivated in the Islands of the 
JMalay Archipelago, another reduction was made. It, 
however, remained a monopoly of the Portuguese crown 
for many years, even as late as the eighteenth century. 

The earliest reference to a trade in pepper in England 
is A. D. 978-1016, when it was enacted that traders bring- 

[ 37 ] 



ing their ships to Billingsgate should pay at Christmas 
and Easter, with other tributes, ten pounds of pepper. 

Great Britain derived a duty from it for centuries, and 
as late as 1623 this duty was five shillings, or about $1.20 
per pound. English grocers were known as " Peppers." 
Even in 1823 the duty was two shillings and six pence 
per pound. The pepper alluded to by Pliny at his time 
in Rome must have been the product of Malabar, the 
nearest part of India to Europe, and must have cost in 
Malabar about 2d. per pound. It probably went to 
Europe by crossing the Indian and Arabian oceans with 
the easterly monsoon, sailing up the Red Sea, crossing 
the desert, and then going down the Nile, and making its 
way along the Mediterranean. This voyage in our time 
can be made in one month ; at that time it probably took 
eighteen months. Transit and custom duties must have 
been paid over and over again and there must have been 
plenty of extortion. These facts will explain how pep- 
per could not be sold in the Roman market under fifty- 
six times its prime cost. Immediately previous to the 
discovery of the route to India by the Cape of Good 
Hope we find that the price of pepper in the market of 
Europe had fallen to 6s. a pound, or 3s. 4d. less than 
in the time of Pliny. What probably contributed to this 
fall in price was the superior skill in navigation of the 
now converted Mohammedan Arabs, Turks, and Vene- 
tians, and the extension of their commerce in the East- 
ern Archipelago, which abounded in pepper. 

Black pepper was then for many years considered a 
very choice article and, like gold, silver, and precious 
stones, it was possessed only by persons of wealth, and 
was for generations found only on royal tables and those 
of the rich and noble who aspired to rank with the rulers 
of the realm. 

The British gave up the chief pepper ground of the 
world, which was the grand Island of Sumatra, to the 
Dutch for the small Dutch colony in Western Africa, 
which has involved both nations in little wars and has 
cost the Dutch more lives and money than it is worth; 
but prestige must also be sustained, and general after 
general returned with a shattered reputation from the 

[ 38 ] 



"Atyeh/' as the Dutch called Acheen. When the East 
India Company first formed a settlement on the coast of 
Sumatra, it directed its attention to produce large 
growths of pepper. A stipulation was made with some 
of the native chiefs, binding them to compel their sub- 
jects each to cultivate a certain number of pepper vines, 
and the whole product was to be delivered to the com- 
pany's agents at a price far below the actual cost of 
cultivation and harvesting. The chiefs for a long time 
enforced obedience to this arbitrary measure and their 
success in this was supposed to be permanently assured 
by granting them an allowance proportionate to the 
quantity of pepper delivered. 

This arbitrary practice was too keenly felt by the 
natives to be endured, and, the influence of the chiefs 
soon declining and the people becoming negligent in the 
cultivation, the annual supply fell off. The chiefs, 
unable longer to maintain their despotic practice, aban- 
doned to the agents of the company the task of obliging 
the people to labor that others might reap. Now the 
rights of the people are more respected and the injustice 
of the methods formerly used are fully acknowledged; 
the cultivation of pepper in Sumatra, as well as else- 
where, is free. 

Perhaps the earliest writer to describe the extent of 
the cultivation of pepper was Linschoten. He speaks 
of its coming from Mala or Malabar, and his friend 
and commentator of pepper, Paludanus, enters into a 
long account of its medicinal virtues. " It warmeth 
the mawe," he writes, " and consumeth the cold slymenes 
thereof to ease the payne in the mawe which proceedeth 
of rawnesse and winde, it is good to eat fyve pepper 
comes everie morning. He that hath a bad or thick 
sight, let him use pepper cornes with annis fennel seed 
and cloves for there by the mystinesse of the eyes which 
darken the sight is cleared and driven away." But in 
modern medicine it is very little used, being rarely pre- 
scribed except indirectly as an ingredient of some com- 
pound. 

Black pepper is the dried fruit of the piper nigrum, a 
perennial climbing shrub indigenous to the forests of 

[39 3 



Travancore^ a native state in India, province of Madras, 
and of Malabar, a province of India, from which it has 
been introduced into the other countries mentioned. 

Two species of piper will be found under drugs, 
" Cubebs " and a third falls within the range of the 
articled drugs '' Kava-Kava" and Narcotics; and two 
others are dealt with under " Narcotics" There remain 
then for description as spice, black pepper, white pepper, 
long pepper, and Ashantee pepper. 

In planting a new garden where no wild pepper vines 
are to be had, level land is selected which borders on a 
river or small stream without much sloping, but not so 
low as to be liable to any overflow from the stream, as the 
land must be kept well drained. Pepper is a hardy- 
plant and will grow on almost any soil, but not on old, 
worn-out plantations or on poor sandy or clay soil, as 
more depends on the soil than on the cultivation. It 
should not be planted on hillsides because the earth wiU 
wash from the roots in time of rains. The best soil for 
pepper culture is a well-drained vegetable loam ; swamp 
lands are very good in a hot climate with heavy rains. 

The vine may be propagated either from the seed or 
by cuttings. When berries are selected for seed they 
are first soaked for three days, when the outer coat can 
be removed. The seed is then dried in the shade, after 
which it is sown by drills in nursery beds, which are made 
in the usual manner in good moist soil in a shady locality. 

Frequent watering will be necessary, if it be a dry 
time, until the plants have four leaves, when they will be 
ready for planting. 

The land to be planted is to be cleared of underbrush. 
Sometimes large trees are burned by setting fire to their 
trunks. The tree M-ill then decay and will be attacked 
by insects and w^ill become a heap of rotten dust. This 
dust is washed by the rain around the roots of the vines, 
making a good fertilizer. 

The land cleared is next well planted and hoed and is 
lined out 7x7 feet, and holes are dug two feet square 
and fifteen inches deep, which are filled with good soil or 
leaf mold if it can be secured. In filling these holes they 
should not be heaped, as depressions are better for the 

[ 40 ] 



plant, but care should be taken that all that portion of 
the plant underground in the nursery should be buried in 
the garden. 

The land is fenced by mud walls made into terraces. 
The vines need support, for if they are not supported 
they M'ill spread over the ground with the result that 
there will be much loss of fruit. 

When posts are used, as is the case on the Island 
of Borneo, thej^ should be twelve feet long and 
eight inches square, with the lower end tarred 
for two feet, to prevent decaying in the ground. 
The plantation will then have the appearance 
of a hop field. But there are many disadvan- 
tages in connection with the post support, as the 
posts must be reset at intervals (much oftener than the 
vines) and the removing of the post disturbs the aerial 
roots of the vine, which cling to them. Even if 
the vine be trained to its new post, it will take some 
time for it to attach sufficiently to receive any support 
or nourishment. As the poles furnish little or no shade, 
a severe drought will largely ruin the plants. For these 
reasons the use of posts has not proved a success. Dif- 
ferent countries use different growing trees for the sup- 
port, thus securing shade protection as well. Many 
kinds of trees are used. One of these is the mango or 
the bread tree, which will yield the planter one crop of 
fruit each year in addition to the pepper crop; but the 
bread tree {artocarpus-incioa) , being of slow growth, 
should not be used for a support until it is twelve years 
old. The Jack tree {artocarpus-integri folia) is some- 
times used in Malabar as a second choice, but its fruit is 
diminished in quantity and quality by the pressure of 
the pepper, and sometimes the monkeys will pull them out 
or the crickets nip off the tops. The erythrina-Indica 
{erythrina coroilodendron) , a thorn tree called by the 
natives chingkariang, is much used in Sumatra for an 
early support. It grows quickly and is easih^ started 
by simply sticking a large branch in the ground in the 
rainy season. It will be capable of supporting the vine 
in one year, but it will soon be killed by the growing 
^'ine, not lasting more than twelve years. For this rea- 

[ 41 ] 



son the mango or bread tree is planted beside it and when 
the erythrina-Indica tree dies out the first choice mango 
tree (manganifera-Indica) is ready to take its place and 
will furnish support for the vine for twenty years. 
Moreover, the fruit of the tree will not be affected by 
the growing vines. Plantations are set on the tilled 
land from July to August about twelve paces apart. In 
February and March the supporting trees are planted 
forty feet apart. They are kept well watered during the 
dry season, and when ten feet high are topped and kept 
trimmed or the leaves are picked off so as not to shade 
the plant too much. If the pepper garden is small, the 
vines may be planted near the trees already growing. 

Plants raised from the seed in nurseries are trans- 
planted in May or June, being placed in the prepared 
holes five feet apart with their root end from the 
tree and with the growing perennial vine top directed 
towards its support. The root should be as far distant 
as possible from the support. If the plants are of slow 
growth, manure may be applied to the surface of the 
ground. In China burnt earth and rotten fish are used. 
The land must be kept free from weeds and the plants 
must be kept well watered on alternate days in the dry 
season. 

The pepper vines are trained to their support in 
October and November. They may begin to bear fruit 
the first year, but do not yield much until the 
third or fourth year. The hoeing, training, and 
fertilizing are kept up twice each year in 
October and November and July and August. 
The moist earth should be heaped up and well 
tramped down about the plant. When the vines are six 
feet high they will cling to the trees without further 
training. The vines will bear for about fourteen years 
and even thirty years sometimes in extra good soil, but 
when past fourteen years they will usually decline in 
vigor and fruitfulness. The vine, after topping, is 
from eight to ten feet long, but if left to grow its full 
length will be from twenty to thirty feet long and w ill go 
to wood and bear less fruit, and the fruit would be difii- 
cult to gather. When cuttings are to be used for plant- 

[ 42 ] 



ing, at least three should be placed in each hole with 
six inches under ground or four inches above ground, 
the portion above ground to be directed towards the sup- 
port. The plantation is next covered with leaves, dried 
grass, or weeds as a protection from the sun and to keep 
the earth moist and cool. 

The vines grow rapidly if it is wet weather. When 
they have run up the support two feet, the ends are nip- 
ped off so as to cause lateral branches to start out. In 
some places, when the vines are from a year to eighteeii 
months old and have grown five feet up the support, 
they are carefully detached and the ends, having been 
coiled up in a spiral form, are buried in a hole dug in the 
ground close to its roots, except a small surface of the 
stem. This process is called letting down. It insures 
a large crop, producing seven or more vines to one sup- 
porting tree. Plants raised from cuttings will only 
bear from seven to eight years, but the quantity and 
quality of the pepper is far superior to that raised from 
the seed. 

The planting of the cuttings in baskets is often car- 
ried on in the following manner; The cuttings, which 
are about eighteen inches long, are put half a dozen in 
a basket; at higher altitudes more are used, sometimes 
as many as ten or twelve. The basket is then filled with 
earth and is buried at the foot of the supporting tree, 
care being taken that they do not touch. In October 
and November the ground around the baskets is dug up 
and the vines are manured with cow dung and leaves. 
The baskets are said to be a great protection to the young 
vines and they insure much better results. The end of 
the vine makes the best cutting, as it is a growing termi- 
nal bud. Vines growing wild, such as are indigenous 
to the forests of Malabar and Travancore, are left 
planted with the forest trees for their support. The 
surplus shade and underbrush are cut out and the ground 
is weeded, old vines being replaced by young ones. The 
product raised in this way is about as good as the culti- 
vated. 

A pepper garden is generally planted with plenty of 
room for roads, so as to secure easy access to all parts 

[ 43 ] 



of it and with the least possible grade, which should not 
be more than one foot in twenty. The garden contains 
anywhere from five to fifteen acres and is divided into 
plots by hedges of shrubs, each plot containing from 
five hundred to one thousand plants. The plants 
are pruned or thinned by hand as they grow bushy at 
the top, when the flexible stems generally entwine at the 
top of their support and then bend downward, having 
their extremities as well as their branches loaded v/ith 
fruit. It matters not how many stalks grow from the 
same root until the vine begins to bear fruit, but when 
fruit bearing begins only one or two stems should be 
left, as more would weaken the root and it would not, for 
that reason, bear as abundantly. All suckers and side 
shoots must be carefully removed. Trenches are cut to 
the neighbor props where the vines have failed, and 
through these trenches superfluous shoots are conducted, 
where they soon ascend around the adjacent tree. By 
this means the plantation is of a uniform growth, and, 
since the ground is kept well weeded and is elevated, and 
since there is an open border of twelve feet wide around 
each garden, there is given to the plantation an admi- 
rable symmetry and neatness of appearance. 

The pepper vine or climbing shrub is mentioned by Sir 
John Mandeville in his travels of 1322 to 1356 as fol- 
lows: 

" The pepper groM^ethe in manere as doth a wylde 
vine that is planted fast by the trees of the woodee for 
to susteynen it by, as doth the vyne and fruyt thereof 
hangethe in manere as Reysinges; and the tree is so 
thikke charged that it semethe that it wolde breke, and 
when it is ripe it is all grene as it were ivy berryes ; and 
then men kytten them as men doe the vynes and then 
they putten it upon an owven and there it waxeth blak 
and crisp." 

This simple description will in some respects answer 
our purpose at the present time. The leaf of the pepper 
vine is entire, simple, alternate, without stipules, broad, 
and fleshy, or oval or heart-shaped. The leaves are 
arranged in chisters of five to seven in number, opposite 
the flower stalk, and the flowers, which are glossy-white, 

[ 44 ] 



)^^l 







iL' '»/• - ire' '„ 



l?fe:^:^'"^-^.^r. 



:^;:i^'ik^'-.- 



^t&->ve^^'.?i^ 




n /TV 



HARVESTING OF BLACK PEPPER 




COAST NEAR MANGALORE 



are very insignificant in appearance upon a long slender 
pendulous spadix. They are for the most part uni- 
sexual, either manoecious or dioecious ; that is, the stami- 
nate (male flower) and pistillate (female) flowers are 
separate either upon different branches of the same 
plant (manoecious) or upon different plants (dioecious). 
The leaves are four to six inches long, and they partake 
strongly of the aromatic and peculiar smell and 
pungent taste of the berry. The small fruit grows 
loosely on the pendulous fruit stalks or spikes. A 
single vine will bear from twenty to thirty fruit spikes 
and each spike contains twenty to forty berries. If 
they were allowed to ripen, the berries would 
lose some of their pungency and would gradually 
fall off. 

The pepper vine produces two crops annually, the 
first in December and January, at the time of the first 
monsoon. The flowers of the second crop appear in 
March and April, at the time of the little monsoon, and 
the crop is gathered in July and August. The second 
crop is inferior both in quality and quantity, probably 
on account of lack of moisture. 

The pepper berry is a small, round, sessile, fleshy 
fruit, which at first appears green, next red, and finally 
yellow when f ull}^ ripe. When one or two berries at the 
base of the spike begin to turn red the entire spike is 
pinched off. 

In gathering the fruit, the natives make use of a small 
triangular ladder made of bamboo, with which they go 
around the tree and reach all the fruit as they go. The 
fruit is put in small baskets slung over the shoulder (see 
illustrations) of the gatherer. It is then taken by those 
who work on the ground to a smooth, level spot of clean, 
hard ground and spread on mats or platforms to drj'' 
(mat drying is said to give heavier returns) , care being 
taken to carry it in at night so as to escape the dews. 
After three days, as the drying proceeds, the berries are 
removed by rubbing with the hands and are picked 
clean or winnowed in large round sieves. In some east- 
ern localities mills operated by hand facilitate the work. 
After the berries have become dry they vrill shrivel and 

[ 45 ] 



turn black or chocolate. Those gathered too soon will 
after being dried become dust. 

The berries after drying are spherical and about one- 
fifth of an inch in diameter and are wrinkled on the sur- 
face, indistinctly pointed below by the remains of a very 
short pedical and crowned by three or four lobed stigmas. 
The thin pericarp tightly encloses a single seed, the em- 
bryo of which, on account of the premature gathering 
is not fully developed and is replaced by the cavity below 
the apex. The seed itself contains within the thin red- 
brown testa a shining albumen of angular, radically 
arranged, large-celled parenchyme, gray and horny 
without and mealy within. 

The transverse section of a grain of pepper exhibits 
a soft, yellowish epidermis covering; the outer pericarp 
is formed of a closely packed yellow layer of large and 
most radically arranged thick-walled cells, most of 
which are colorless and loaded with starch; others con- 
tain a soft, yellowish, amorphous mass, each containing 
in its minute cavity a quantity of dark brown resin, 
while the middle layer of the pericarp consists of starch 
and oil, the shrinkage of which causes the deep wrinkles 
on the surface of the berry. The next inner layer of 
the pericarp exhibits its circumference tangentially 
arranged soft parenchyme, the cells of which possess 
either spiral striation or spiral fibers, but towards the 
interior lose parenchyme free from starch and con- 
taining very large oil cells. The testa is formed in the 
first place of a row of small yellowish thick-walled cells, 
next to which follows the true testa as a dense, dark- 
brown layer of lignified cells, the individual outlines of 
which are indistinguishable. If thin slices are kept 
under glycerine for some time these masses are slowly 
transformed into needle-shaped crystals of piperine. 
The angular cells of the interior of the seed are, of 
course, the more prominent and, when once seen, their 
characteristic form and contents are easily recognized 
again. The structure of the outer coats is made out 
with more difficulty, and before attempting to do so 
on ground pepper it is best to soften some whole 
black and white pepper corns in glycerine and cut 

[ 46 ] 



sections from various parts of the exterior of the 
berry. 

White pepper, since it is allowed to ripen fully, has 
the most distinctness, and, since it lacks the wrinkles, 
it will not be found difficult to pick out three layers of 
different cells from a section from it mounted in glycer- 
ine, composing the outer coat of the corn, besides angu- 
lar large cells of the interior which are filled with starch 
and piperine, the latter being yellow in color. The first 
of these layers, the outer one, is made of colorless, large, 
loosely arranged cells m ith some fibers toward the exte- 
rior more compact than those toward the interior of the 
layer and carrying globules of oil. This layer makes up 
the principal part of the husk of the white pepper. The 
second layer is a part of what is generally called the 
testa and consists of small yellow cells, thick walled and 
closely oppressed. Next comes the third layer and sec- 
ond portion of the testa, which consists of lignified brown 
cells, which in their transverse appearance resemble some 
of the cells of mustard hulls. The individuality of these 
cells is not made out easily, owing to the thickness of 
the walls. After the observer has become thoroughly 
familiar with these appearances of the white pepper he 
should examine ground pepper, which will be found to 
differ in the way in which these coats are to be presented ; 
they can be recognized, however, and must be studied 
until thoroughly understood. 

The black pepper is not as simple in its arrangement 
as the white, the maturity of the white giving it distinct- 
ness, while the shrunken character of the black berry 
makes the recognition of its various tissues difficult. In 
a section from the exterior of a softened black pepper, 
the interior coats, after what has been learned of the 
white, will be quickly recognized, but they are not plainly 
developed. The coats of the outer pericarp, which in 
the white pepper were wanting, will be found to be 
darker colored, shrunken and confused, so that it 
requires much study to discover the forms of the cells, 
which may be more easily found in the powdered black 
pepper; there the structure already recognized in the 
ground white pepper will be seen and in addition dark- 

[ 47 ] 



brown particles, portions of the outer coats. Careful 
examinations of different particles will reveal some 
which consist of the elongated, vertical exterior cells 
containing resin, while others are the shrunken paren- 
chyme cells of the second layer, whose structure is indis- 
tinct. 

The colored portion of a ground black pepper divides 
itself into two classes, the dark particles which have just 
been mentioned and the deep reddish ones which are 
made up of the testa of the seed and its adherent paren- 
chyme. The two will be readily recognized and distin- 
guished from adulterants by investigation. 

There are in all about forty different species of pep- 
per plant, consisting of herbs, shrubs, and trees. They 
are generally named from the city or country of exj)ort. 
The differences in appearance of the product coming 
from various sources are sufficiently marked to be 
readily noticed when samples of each are at hand side by 
side, but otherwise it is almost impossible to distinguish 
between some of them. The goodness of the pepper 
depends more on the quality of the soil than on the culti- 
vation, although cultivation will increase the yield. The 
fine Tellicherry pepper together with the AUeppy are 
considered the best varieties. Tellicherry is named from 
the city of Tellicherry of British India, province of 
Maladar, district of Madras. AUepp}^ is named from 
the city of Alleppy, which is the capital of the native 
state Travancore in the district of Madras. These are 
closely followed by the ISIalabar pepper from the district 
of Malabar, India. These varieties are sun-dried. Next 
comes the fine Penang pepper, named from the city of 
Penang, meaning "hetalnut" (see illustration) in the 
Straits Settlement. This is followed by the Singapore, 
named from the city of Singapore, and meaning City 
of the Lion (see illustration) , which is also in the Straits 
Settlement, and is the largest export city of spice in the 
world, being the center of export for spices grown in 
the Malay Peninsula as well as in Java and Sumatra 
and of that rich state known as Johore, in the southern 
extremity of the Malay Peninsula. 

Singapore pepper, by reason of its dark color and 

^ [ 48 ] 




ACHEEN 




TELLICHERRY COAST FROM OLD FORT. LOOKING NORTH 



fairly uniform quality, is a good-looking pepper, and 
for that reason it is esteemed, but for grinding purposes 
it has not been heretofore so highly regarded, because 
of its smoky odor, as it is dried over smoke. The pepper 
plantation and the gambier plantation of Johore are 
usually under one management, and in boiling down the 
gambier to make the vegetable extracts there are sus- 
pended over the kettle mats on which are placed quanti- 
ties of the Singapore pepper. 

The smoke from the furnace dries and at the same 
time blackens the pepper and gives it the unmistakable 
smoky smell which is characteristic of Singapore pepper. 
This smoky odor is retained to a considerable degree 
after the pepper is ground, and it is one of the tests by 
which pepper merchants determine whether a given 
sample is Singapore or not. The Singapore pepper 
from Borneo is divided into, first, the Mullacca, which 
is the best and heaviest; second, the Caytongee; and 
third, the poorest sort, Negara, which is most abundant, 
and which is small and usually falls to dust. Manga- 
lore pepper, named from the city of Mangalore (Fig. 
3) , is the largest pe])per corn grown. It is nearly twice 
the size of ordinary pepper, is of a deep black color, 
very clean, and of uniform size. When ground it yields 
a powder of a characteristic greenish appearance. Lam- 
pong pepper takes its name from a district bordering 
on the east end of the Island of Sumatra near the Straits 
of Sunda where it grows. There is also a city in the dis- 
trict by the name, Lampong (meaning bobbing in 
water) , where all the men and women meet at a central 
market house to transact their business matters. The 
Lampong pepper corns are less uniform in size than 
those of the other varieties before mentioned, and are 
also of a lighter color, and the surface contains much 
dirt. Acheen, Sumatra, or West Coast, are names 
applied to the pepper found on the great wild island of 
Sumatra, visited by Marco Polo in 1291. The island 
is divided into semi-independent states, each being ruled 
by its own prince or chief, who may be called Sultan, 
Rajah, or Datto. The interior of Sumatra is inhabited 
by the lion and the tiger, and by bands of savage Malays 

[ 49 ] 



mixed with Dyaks of Borneo and Hindoos, some of 
whom are very savage. Among these are the head- 
hunters, or cannibals, who impose as a penalty for 
certain crimes that the guilty one is to be cut 
to pieces and eaten, and sometimes is to be eaten 
ahve. This class of people are found in the south 
of Achin. 

Acheen pepper ( Fig. 2 ) takes its name from the dis- 
trict by that name, or from the city of Acheen (native 
dialect, Atkeh) (see illustration) and the district of 
Acheen, which exported in the year 1904, 60,000 piculs 
(136 lbs. each) ; Telak Betang (South Sumatra) ex- 
ported 50,000 piculs (136 lbs. each) ; Padang, Sumatra 
(meanmg an open plain), produces much pepper of 
good quality, and the Bataks, of North Sumatra, have 
long been devoted to its cultivation. The designation 
East and West Coast, as formerly used, have been (as 
have also the three names it was known by on the island, 
" lada-Iawor " or " Lampoon," " lada Manna," and 
" lada Jambee ") lost track of, and the pepper is now 
designated according to its specific gravity as A, B, C, 
or D grade. 

A grade weighs at least 4 lbs., 13 oz. to the imperial 
gallon (481 grams per liter). 

B grade weighs at least 4 lbs., 5 oz. to the imperial 
gallon (431 grams per liter) . 

C grade weighs at least 3 lbs., 13 oz. to the imperial 
gallon (381 grams per liter). 

D grade weighs at least 3 lbs., 5 oz. to the imperial 
gallon (586 grams per liter). 

There has probably not been any of the A grade of 
Acheen black pepper in this country for several years, 
for the reason that it is this grade of pepper that is pre- 
ferred by the manufacturers of Penang white pepper; 
and since it is used up in that way it does not reach our 
market except in the form of white pepper. Fig. 5. The 
best way to test the quality of the whole pepper is by 
weight, the heavier being the best. - It takes 6,984 Sin- 
gapore pepper corns (Fig. 4) to weigh one pound, while 
the finer grades of Tellicherry or Malabar (Fig. 1) 
require but 6,400. 

[ 50 ] 




CENTRAL MARKET LOMPONG (Bobbing in Water) TELAH BENTONG 




A HOME IN ALLEPY 



Pepper is sometimes graded by putting it in water, 
when the heavy sinks and the hght swims ; the water also 
removes the dirt that might adliere to it. 

Shot pepper is the heavier black pepper put through 
a soaking and hardening process. Afterwards it is 
oiled to give it a better appearance, but as the water is 
injurious to the berry it is now generally separated in 
a column of air. The better appearance thus given to 
the shot pepper makes it more in demand and gives it a 
higher market value. 

From what has been said, we can readily understand 
that the quality of pepper differs in the different locali- 
ties. Pepper will hold its strength longer than any 
other spice. It has been found by mixing Malabar for 
weight, Penang for strength, and Sumatra for color, 
we get the most desirable powdered article. Malabar 
pepper has about twice the strength of Singapore, which 
has twice the strength of Sumatra. The Atjeh, Atchin 
or Acheen, pepper from the northeastern part of 
Sumatra, and that from the province of Batak in the 
more central eastern part of Sumatra Island, as received 
in this country, contain much earthy matter, and the 
East Archipelago pepper culture, including the islands 
of Jahore and Rhio, is so widely spread as to give us 
large and various qualities. 

The city of Penang, in the Straits Settlement, 
exported in the year 1904, 53,613 bags of black pepper 
and 22,415 bags of white pepper, being about half of 
the entire supply, and the Island of Ceylon exported in 
1904, 2,746 cwt. of pepper valued at $379.83. Saigon, 
China, has also many acres under cultivation. Of 
course, when the price of pepper is high, there is more 
profit for the grower, and the laborer is given more em- 
ployment, since the acreage is increased. Advances of 
money are made to the Chinaman by the merchants, 
who take security on the growing pepper at a rate fixed 
much below its actual value. The Chinaman on this 
advance money erects a small building required as a 
home, and purchases his farming implements and has 
two doUars monthly for food and for opium, and at the 
end of the third year the plantation is equally divided 

r 51 1 



between the contracting parties. One man can take 
care of about 3,000 plants after they come into bearing. 

Ashantee pepper or West African (and as it is some- 
times called, African Cubebs) is the fruit of the piper, 
(Cubeb) " Clusii," and is principally from Niam-Niam, 
a district in Guinea bordering on the Gulf of Guinea in 
Africa, and is locally used as a substitute for black pep- 
per, but has a hollow berry, much smaller and 
less wrinkled. In the southM-est of India, where pepper 
grows wild, it is found in rich, moist soil, usually in 
narrow valleys. It propagates itself by running along 
on the ground and throwing off shoots every few feet. 
The natives, in caring for it, merely tie the ends of the 
vines to trees at distances at least six feet apart, and 
especially to those having a rough bark, as the vine 
readily clings to the rough surface of the tree. In 
India the berries of (Embelia) (Samara) Ribes are 
often mixed with pepper. 

There is also a fruit called Melegueta pepper, known 
also as " Guinea Grains," Grains of Paradise, or Alli- 
gator pepper, which is the seed of Amomum Mele 
Gueta, a plant of the ginger family, which contains 
seeds which are exceedingly pungent and are used as a 
spice through Central and Northern Africa. 

The cultivation of the pepper plant in the Western 
Hemisphere has been attended with fair success where 
it has been perseveringly pursued, but there is little prob- 
ability that it can successfully compete even in the West 
India islands with that of those countries where the plant 
is indigenous. Jamaica pepper, which is a native of 
the Island of Jamaica, belongs more to the fruit of 
pimenta, an account of which is given under a separate 
chapter. The yield of pepper varies in different locali- 
ties and may be from one and one-half to eight 
or ten pounds to a single vine. The third year the yield 
is one catty; fourth year, one and one-half catty; the 
fifth year, three and one-half catties, a catty being one 
and one-third pounds. Four thousand pounds is a good 
average to one acre. Ten pounds of green berries make 
only four to five pounds when dried and bagged for 
the market. 

[ 52 ] 




SINGAPORE (City of the Lion) 




VIEW IN HARBOR OF PENANG FROM STEAMER LOOKING NORTHWEST 



It is hard to estimate the amount of blaek ])epper 
used eaeh year, but it is very great. The (Jnited States 
eonsumes more spiees pro rata than any other eoiuitry. 
This faet is well known })y exi)orters after long experi- 
enee, and now many spiees are shipped direet to the 
United States ports instead of by the way of London. 

The ehief use of i)epper is that of a spice added prni- 
cipally to meats, but also to other food substances. 
Pepper is sometimes used for medicinal purposes, as it 
stimulates the stomach on account of the pi])erine it eon- 
tains, and thus aids in digestion. In removing ring- 
worms it has few eciuals. The native doctors of India 
consider it a stimulant, and they prescribe an infusion 
of the toasted berries in cases of cholera morbus; it will 
check violent vomiting in that disease when many other 
remedies fail. They also ])repare a liniment i'rom pep- 
per which they think has sovereign virtue in chronic rheu- 
matism. In Europe it is sometimes used as a stimulant 
in gout and ])alsy, and the watery infusion hsis ])roved 
a useful gargle in relaxation of the uvula. The dose 
of black pepper should be about six grains. 

The chief enemies of the pepper vine are white ants, 
the black bug and white bug, the borer, male crickets, 
and the Cinchana caterpillar. A strong solution of 
tuba root is sufficient to keep away white ants, and tuba 
root mixed with juice of common tobacco will prevent 
the l)lack and white bug work, and in mild cases ashes or 
sulphur and lime ap])lied early in the morning will be 
found sufficient. The borer l)egins by attacking the 
joints of the branches and its ])resence is known by the 
light yellowish color of the bark. There is no known 
preventive for the borer, except to catch it before it 
has gone too far. It always works around the joints, 
and when it has completed" tlie circle, it commences to 
bore down the center of the ])ranch, and sometimes, but 
very seldom, the stem. The male cricket goes for the 
roots, but does the least damage; if it has gone too 
far to be dug out, the best way is to plug up its hole as 
far as possible with clay. 

The green Cinchana caterpillar attacks the leaves 
only, but may destroy many of them ; the only plan to 

[ 53 ] 



iiuikc way with it is to send a coolie around to collect 
and dcslroy the insects. 

Wliole pe|)|)er is seldom or never adulterated, 
although niucli is uncleaned. Old, water-soaked stock 
is at times found on the market. Several years ago two 
thousand bags were thrown into the Thames River from 
a wharf which was on fire, and was later offered for sale 
at auction. The ])owdered article, however, is adulter- 
ated more than any other condiment used as a table 
s|)ice. The adulteration is made by almost any cheap, 
foreign article attainable and in a most ridiculous and 
not oidy unhiwful but inhuman way. The probable 
reasons why pepper is selected for this more extensive 
abuse are found in the fact that adulteration is more 
easily covered u]) and in the further i'act that, owing to 
the large amount ol' j)cpper used, the gain is much 
greater. 

The (juality of a ground pe])])er can be told by an 
expert from its weight and color, and on examination 
with a lens of low magnifying ])Ower. The particles 
are not coarsely ground, and it is not difficult to pick out 
pieces of husk, yellow corn, and rice; if necessary, a 
more carel'ul investigation under a micr()sco])e of higher 
power will serve i'or confirmation. Hlack ])epper is 
much more liable to be adulterated than the white, 
although it is perfectly easy to dilute the latter with 
broken rice or crackei'-dust, or with long pepper. There 
is a disf)ositi()n many times on the part of those who can 
afford it to have the best that can be made, in appear- 
ance at least, and it is thought by some that the whiter 
the color oC the pepper the purer the quality. This is a 
great mistake. The removing of the outer covering 
of the black in order to make white ])epper removes the 
most pungent part of the fruit. This work is sometimes 
carried so far that, Avhile the fruit, when ground, is 
nearly as white as starch, there is little left but starch. 
It is questioned whether this practice is not as much 
an adulteration as the skimming of milk, as it takes away 
the most valuable ])ai-t of the fruit. T^ong pep])er is 
also used to a(hdterate pepper, but the taste and smell of 
the long ])epper cannot be disguised, and its starch is 

[ r.4 1 



nearly double the size of that of ordinary black pepper. 
Not only are the pep])er shells used to adulterate ground 
pepper, but also other by-products, such as middlings, 
wheat, corn, ground olive stones, cocoanut shells, almond 
shells, mustard hulls, long pepper, Cayenne pepper, 
sago, and linseed. 

These are sold to the spice grinders under the name of 
"P. D." pepper. Pepper adulterants and pepper mix- 
tures, — P. D., pe])per dust; H. P. D., hot pepper dust; 
W. P. D., white pepper dust — consist of such products 
as the grinder has at hand or can obtain at the lowest 
price, the mixer requiring only that the colors shall be 
such as are suitable for his trade. In London, the olive 
stones are much used, put up in colors of both black 
and white. Pepper mixtures are sold under the name 
of "Poivrette or Pepperette." Their natural color is 
pale buff, much resembling the middle layer of the 
pepper berry when ground, and they cannot be distin- 
guished from the pepper by the eye, even with the use of 
a hand lens, when mixed with a powdered pep- 
per, but with the aid of the microscope with one-sixth 
or one-eighth objective, it is seen that they consist of 
pale, dense, lignous cells, being entire and marked 
with linear air spaces; some are torn and 
indistinct. Other substances examined showed finely 
ground clay and brick dust. The presence of pep- 
per husks and charcoal is generally known by the 
immensely increased proportion of black particles in the 
field, as appears in Fig. 43, opposite page 25, Chap. III. 

The true pepper powder, and one in which rice starch 
is present, is given in Fig. 21 and in Fig. 42, which also 
gives us an idea of the size of the pepper starch, which is 
very small as compared with any other kind of starch. 

Much authority might be quoted on the adultera- 
tions of pepper, but enough has been written to give the 
reader an idea of its vastness. I will next endeavor to 
give the method of examining peppers microscopically. 

First, the sieve examination of those particles left 
upon a forty to sixty-mesh sieve is of value. This exami- 
nation will frequently reveal the nature of the adulter- 
ant or the too large portion of pepper husk. 

[ 55 1 



Next, by the aid of a good dissecting microscope, fif- 
teen to thirty power, the frequency of the occurrence of 
the coarse particles, after a httle experience, will not be 
difficult to sort out, and the presence of sand or a notable 
excess of P. D. may be detected and estimated. Back- 
grounds of white and black with reflected light and 
afterwards transmitted light may be used in the manner 
so conveniently afforded by Zeiss's stand made for this 
purpose. A portion of the powdered pepper or the 
separated coarse particles should also be treated with 
a chloral-hydrate solution for twenty-four hours, to 
render it more transparent for examination with higher 
powers, and in the meantime a part of the coarse par- 
ticles collected from the sieve may be examined under a 
one and one-half inch objective and then crushed and re- 
examined, using both plain and polarized light. In this 
way husky matter may be distinguished and foreign 
starches rejected. Polarized light is then the means of 
bringing out more plainly the starches, the proportion of 
which iodine will reveal. Due allowance should be made 
for the smaller granules of pepper starch and all optically 
active tissue, such as the fibers and sclerenchyma or stone 
cells, which are found in olive stones and cocoanut shells. 

The chloral-hydrate preparation should now be exam- 
ined, much of which disappears, and the starch is found 
much swollen. The structure of the pepper itself has 
already been explained and is supposed to be so well 
understood that it cannot be confused with the foreign 
matter, as the husky matter present is rendered so much 
clearer that its identification and differentiation are much 
easier. Experience with half a dozen samples of cheap, in 
comparison with a pure, pepper will soon teach one the 
best means of making out what has been briefly 
described. 

It has been found most valuable to digest about a 
gram of pepper with nitric acid, specific gravity 1.1, 
and chlorate of potash for several hours, or until the 
color is bleached, when it is then possible to distinguish 
the denser cellular structure more easily than in any 
other way. This is particularly true of the stone cells, 
which make up the larger part of the cocoanut shells 

[ 56 ] 



and ground olive stones, especially when polarized light 
is used. Care should be taken not to confuse the stone 
cells of the pepper husk with those of olive stones or 
other adulterants. Charcoal at the same time remains 
unbleached. The analyst will find many variations in 
the samples met with and should always be on guard for 
something new. 

Chemical composition of black pepper. — The analy- 
sis of the pure ground pepper shows the amount of 
water to be between 8 and 10 per cent., but, of course, 
it varies with surrounding conditions. The ash in 
black peppers does not exceed from 4-10 to 7-10 per 
cent., and in white, 1 4-10 per cent.; it is fair to believe 
that anything above 5 per cent, for black and 2 per cent, 
for white is suspicious. The volatile oil, to which pep- 
per owes its flavor, varies in black pepper from 1.69 to 
.70, and in white 1.26 to .57 are found, but this deter- 
mination is not of great value as a means of detecting 
adulterations. 

Piperine, which is a neutral crystalline substance, and 
resin, to which the pepper owes its pungency, of which it 
yields about two per cent, in its composition, are similar 
to oil of turpentine as well in specific gravity as in the 
boiling point. These substances furnish a most valu- 
able check on the purity of both white and black pepper. 
Pepper contains from 7.90 to 7.24 per cent, of these 
substances, showing a great constancy in amount, and 
on addition of adulterants, this is plainly affected, 
which seems better than a determination of pure piper- 
ine, which is difficult and causes much loss. It has also 
proved impossible to make determinations of piperine 
by the combustion, or K. Jeldahl, methods by applica- 
tion of Stutzer's copper-hydrate process, the percentage 
of nitrogen being so small, 4,912 in piperine, as to make 
the error very large when converting the former to the 
latter, the necessary factor being 20.36. 

The determination of starch or its equivalent in re- 
ducing sugars has been looked into with care, and a pre- 
liminary extraction with alcohol and water is necessary 
to obtain results which are fairly constant, which deter- 
mination shows black pepper to contain from 34 to 38 

[ 57 ] 



per cent, of starch, or 42 to 47 per cent, of substances 
of reducing sugar equivalent, calculated on dry ash free 
substance. White pepper contains in the same way 
from 40 to 43 per cent, starch and gives from 50 to 55 
per cent, of reducing sugar equivalent on dry ash free 
substance. 

The crude fiber in black pepper does not vary 
far from 10 per cent., but in the white pepper is much 
reduced, depending to a certain extent on the perfection 
of the decortication. Four to 8 per cent, are prob- 
ably fair limits, and this determination is quite necessary 
in revealing the presence of foreign woody or fibrous 
matter. 

Albuminoids do not vary widely, 10 per cent, being 
the average, with extremes of 7.69 and 11.50. The 
addition of nitrogenous sefeds, of course, increases the 
amount, and of fibrous or woody matter diminishes it. 

We have the following result as a standard : 

Water, 8.0 to 11.0 

Ash, 2.75 to 5.0 

Volatile Oil, 50 to 1.75 

Pepperine and Resin, . . . . 7.0 to 8.0 

Starch, 32.0 to 38.0 

Crude Fiber, 8.0 to 11.0 

Albuminoids, 7.0 to 12.0 



[ 58 ] 



CHAPTER V 

WHITE PEPPER 

WHITE pepper is thought by many to be pro- 
duced by a separate plant, but it is the fruit 
of the black pepper vine, the change in appear- 
ance being brought about by artificial preparation. The 
poor natives are said to collect for market some white 
berries, which have been left on the vines until fully ripe 
and then have fallen to the ground and, by their expo- 
sure to the sun, have lost the outer black coating. That 
which remains is called the " genuine " white pepper. 
This collection of the white pepper corns by the natives 
has given rise to the story that a small bird called bal- 
laree, feeding on the black pepper, digests nothing but 
the outer husks and, the balance, having passed whole 
through the organs of the bird, becomes white. 

The pepper vines are injured by allowing the berry 
to ripen before gathering to make white pepper. For 
this reason the unripe fruit is often used, and some 
manufacturers make it a business to prepare or make 
the white pepper. The unripe black pepper is robbed of 
its outer coat, to make white pepper, in several ways, 
according to the extent to which the decorticating proc- 
ess is carried. Thus, we may have decorticated pepper 
from which all three coats are removed, or only one or two 
of them. All of these kinds are called factitious white 
pepper. Thus we have Tellicherry, which is particu- 
larly fine, and, second, the " coriander white," so called 
from its close resemblance to the seed of that name. 
This is also a fine grade. It is made in imitation of the 
coriander seed by cutting off from the end of each corn 
a piece of the outer hull, so that the dark-colored inner 
portion shows. The ordinary white follows next, which 
is made from the Singapore, Penang, etc. This is often 
bleached to imitate the first two, but it makes a sad imi- 
tation. 

[ 59 ] 



The Tellicherry and coriander are packed in cases 
of about 200 pounds, each with marked tare on every 
case. The ordinary white is packed in bags of about 
150 pounds, with 2 per cent, tare, with an allowance of 
one pound to each package. 

The process is as follows: The black pepper may 
be kept in the house for several days and then bruised 
or washed in a basket to remove the stalk and pulpy 
matter, after which it is dried in the sunshine before 
shipping. It is also prepared by steeping in water 
in which it has been allowed fully to ripen and then 
removing the outer coat by friction. The natives also 
remove the outer layer by placing the ripest red grains 
in running water or in pits made near the river bank or 
in stagnant pools. Sometimes it is only buried in the 
ground, and when it has been under this treatment for 
about one week it will swell and burst the outer husk, 
which is then easily removed by rubbing with the hands 
while it is drying in the sunshine. After being win- 
nowed it is ready for export. Another way of preparing 
white pepper, often used, is to place the black pepper in 
a solution of chloride of lime water to remove the dark 
coating, after which it is rubbed and dried as in the 
other preparation. 

Although the M'hite pepper has the name of being a 
superior article, it is not. It is very true that only the 
marrow of the black pepper berries can be used to make 
white pepper, and the product does have an exquisite 
flavor; but since the greater strength lies in the outer 
cover, there is some doubt as to the quality of the white 
pepper. Moreover, the real goodness of the pepper is, 
in fact, not improved by this process, as the water injures 
its strength, the outer husk contains more of the aroma, 
and the quality of the pepper removed is almost propor- 
tionate to the weight of the pepper corn. The only 
gain obtained is in the appearance, and this process is 
but another way of meeting the public demand for 
something to please the eye, instead of the j^alate. 

White pepper brings a higher price to the grower, 
but when the waste and extra labor are considered it is 
seen that the grower's profits are largely reduced. 

[ 60 ] 



White pepper corns allowed to ripen fully are larger 
than black and can be reduced to a powder more readily, 
and will present a more uniform appearance. 

China and the Straits Settlement export much of 
the cheaper white pepper found in our market and much 
of it comes from the island of Rhio, and it is imported 
in the whole. 

Chemical composition of white pepper: 

Water, 8.0 to 11.0 

Ash, 1.0 to 2.0 

Volatile Oil, 50 to 1.75 

Piperine and Resin, . . . . 7.0 to 8.0 

Starch, 40.0 to 44.0 

Crude Fiber, 4.11 to 8.0 

Albuminoids, 8.0 to 10.0 

By mixing one part ground white pepper with two 
parts of slacked lime and a sufficient quantity of water, 
and evaporating the solution to dryness in a water bath, 
the powder being exhausted with commercial ether, 
piperine can be obtained nearly pure in large crystals 
of a faint straw color. 

To obtain it perfectly pure, it must be dissolved in 
alcohol and recrystallized. 



[ 61 ] 



CHAPTER VI 

*' LONG PEPPER 

10 NG pepper is the fruit spike of a wild plant of 
I Piper longum (Chavica Roochurghii) and of 
Piper {C. officinarum) , there being two species — 
French, Poivre longue; German, Langer pfeffer; 
Italian, Pepe lungo; Spanish, Pimienta larga; Javanese, 
Chabi-Jawa; Hindostan, Pipel; Cyngalese, Tipilie, 
elephant pepper; Cochin Chinese, Caylot. 

Long pepper (Piper officinarum) is a perennial plant 
and has oblong leaves attenuated at the base, and is a 
native of Indian Archipelago, Nepaul, and Java. It 
is found growing along the streams of the East Indies, 
Sumatra, Celebes, and Timor, and is also found in 
Malabar, Ceylon, and East Bengal, and in the Philip- 
pines, being indigenous to most of these countries. It 
is distinguished from the former by having cordate 
or heart-shaped leaves at the base, which are pinnate and 
five-veined. 

In Bengal the plants are raised from suckers and are 
set five feet apart in rich, high, dry soil. Its stem is 
smooth with a slender branch and scandant leaves, cor- 
date pointed and nerved, and of a deep-green color. The 
flowers are dioecious and small, in short, dense, terminal 
solitary spikes, which are nearly cylindrical and opposite 
to the leaves. They are very similar to black pepper, 
with some characteristic differences. 

Long pepper appears to have been known by the 
ancient Greeks and Romans, and in the tenth century 
mention is made of long pepper or Macro-piper. 

The minute baccate fruit, which is closely packed 
around the central axis, is at first green, becoming red 
when ripe. The peppers are hottest in their immature 
state and are then gathered and dried in the sunshine, 
when they change to a dark gray color. They are im- 
ported in the spikes which have the appearance of being 

[ 62 ] 




LONG PEPPER (Piper Longum) 



limed. They are about one and one-half inches in 
length by one- fourth inch thick, but vary in size and are 
indented on the surface. The yield from an acre is 
three maunds of eighty pounds the first year, twelve 
the second year, and eighteen the third year, after which 
the yield diminishes. The roots are finally grubbed up 
and dried and sold as " pi pli mul" which is a favorite 
medicine of the Hindoos, who use it for palsy and apo- 
plexy. The infusion of the powdered fruit mixed with 
a little honey is said to be good in catarrhal affection, 
when the chest is loaded with phlegm. 

In structure it does not bear a close resemblance to 
black pepper, as its pepper corns, or berries, and husks 
all harden together on a long, central, irregular, climb- 
ing stem, much in the same way that in the pines the seed 
and covering are all hardened into one cone. It not 
only has more woody fiber but brings with it much more 
sand, which is found imbedded in the crevices of the 
irregular fruit, than is found in ordinary pepper. 

Long pepper is a spice often called for during the 
fall season for pickling. It imparts a flavor to pickles 
which causes a demand for it for preserving purposes. 
There is much old stock on the market, which is poor. 
This is often used to adulterate ordinary pepper, but 
it can be readily detected by its disagreeable odor, 
which warmth will develop, and by its slaty color and 
the amount of sand it contains. Although grinders try 
to destroy the odor by bleaching, and the slaty color by 
sifting out the husk to make it lighter, its characteristics 
cannot be covered up in the true pepper. 

In gathering the long pepper, the native, being paid 
by the weight for what he brings to the market, takes care 
not to less the weight of dirt, but rather to increase it, 
and in consequence we find that it has always from 3 
to 7 per cent, of insoluble sand and clay in addition 
to the proper ash of the fruit. It is impossible to clean 
it as pepper should be cleaned for grinding, except with 
difficulty and by hand. 

The pepper is harvested in January and when thor- 
oughly dry is put up in piculs of 135^/^ pounds each. 

The ash of the long pepper contains a very large pro- 

[ 63 ] 



portion of salts insoluble in hydrochloric acid, and when 
ground the hard husk and woody centers, as well as the 
dirt, are necessarily ground along with the minute ber- 
ries. Although it contains more sand and more woody 
fiber than genuine ground pepper of the corresponding 
shade, it does not contain as much cellulose as the most 
husky black pepper. 

Long pepper is always cheaper than the best black 
pepper and may be sold as long pepper on the market 
without offense, but it has no more right to a place on 
the market as black pepper than has any other admixture, 
and as such is as fraudulent as buckwheat meal and is 
just as objectionable. 

A sure test for long pepper as an adulterant in ground 
black pepper is to heat a piece of cold meat between two 
plates and sprinkle some of the suspected fresh long 
pepper on it, when the smell and flavor will be so offen- 
sive that one will feel obliged to reject the meat. 

The presence of long pepper may be determined by 
the following characteristics: 

1. If much long pepper is used, its peculiar slaty 
color will show, although sifting and bleaching will 
partly hide the color ; but the odor of the mixture when 
warmed is unmistakable to an educated olfactory sense, 
even if the amount of mixture be moderate. The odor 
cannot be destroyed by bleaching, for that has been tried, 
and even the ethal as well as the alcoholic extracts from 
which the solvent has been evaporated at a low tempera- 
ture yields, when warmed, the characteristic odor very 
plainly. Admixture of long pepper would also intro- 
duce much sand in the powdered black pepper, and 
in white pepper it would be much more noticeable, 
as white pepper does not contain 2Mi per cent, of sand 
and more would mean an admixture. There being also 
much woody matter in powdered long pepper, arising 
from the smallness of the berries as well as the hardened 
setting and from the central woody tube, this may be 
detected either by chemical analysis or by micro- 
scope, and some of it by the naked eye or with the 
aid of a large hand lens. If the sample be spread 
out in a smooth, thin layer on strong paper by 

[ 64 ] 



means of an ivory paper knife, pieces of fluffy 
woody fiber will be detected, especially if the thin layer 
be tapped lightly from below. These pieces come from 
the central part of the indurated catkin, which cannot be 
completely ground fine as genuine pepper stalks are 
ground. Much of this matter is removed by the grind- 
er's sieves, but enough pass through the meshes of the 
silk to be useful as a corroborative indication, and if any 
particles of husk pass through they can be told from 
those of the genuine pepper husks. 

A proportion of the starch granules of long pepper 
is of larger size, about .0002 inch, and of angular shape, 
very slightly smaller than rice granules and more loosely 
aggregated in clusters or isolated. Here it is neces- 
sary to notice that the statement is made in books that 
genuine pepper starch is round in form. Pepper starch 
is doubtless round in the main, but not invariably. ( See 
illustration.) The loose granules of the interior are 
spherical, but in the dense portions of the berry they 
become more angular by pressure on each other. 

Chemical composition of long pepper : 

Total ash, 8. 91 

Sand and ash matter converted into sugar, H. C. L., 1.2 

Total matter soluble in 10 per cent, of H. C. L., . 67.83 

Starch and matters convertible into sugar, . . . 44.04 

Albuminous matter soluble in alkali, 15.47 

Cellulose, 15.70 

Extracted by alcohol, 7.7 

Extracted by ether, 5.5 

Nitrogen, 2.1 

Long pepper also contains piperine, resin, and volatile 
oil. 

The principal cities of export are Singapore and 
Penang, the annual amount of export being from 2,000 
to 3,000 piculs of 135V2 pounds each from each city at 
a London market value of 37 to 45s. a cwt. 



[ 65 ] 



CHAPTER VII 

CAPSICUM^ OR CAYENNE 

CAYENNE pepper, Guiana pepper, Spanish pep- 
per, Mexican chilli, as it is often called, more 
commonly spoken of as red pepper, is a genus of 
herbs or shrubs of the nightshade family (Salanaceoe) 
the fruit of any species of capsicum. The name capsi- 
cum is of uncertain origin, perhaps from kato, to bite — 
all of them having a strong, pungent flavor, or from 
L. capso, box or chest, from the shape of the fruit; the 
latter name being given to it by Broconna. 

ANNUUM HERBACEOUS OR SUFFRUTESCENT 

The true peppers are members of a totally distinct 
order, the Piperaceoe, 

French, Piment or Corail des Jardins Poivra d'Inde 
or Guinee; German, Spanisher Oderherscher Pfeffer. 

Cayenne takes its name from the city of Cayenne 
(Koyen or Kien) (see illustration), or from the island 
and river, both of same name, on which it is located, or 
from the province of Cayenne in French Guiana, South 
America. The city of Cayenne is a French penal sta- 
tion, and exports large quantities of Cayenne, which we 
call Guiana pepper. 

Probably the first known history of Cayenne pepper 
in Europe is that given by Martyr, who writes of 
Columbus bringing it home with him in 1493, and speaks 
of it as being more pungent than that from Caucasus, 
probably referring to the Oriental black pepper. About 
a century later, Gerarde writes of its being brought into 
Europe from Africa and Southern Asia and being 
grown in European gardens. Probably the first record 
of its use is that given by Doctor Chauca, who was physi- 
cian with Columbus's fleet in 1494, and who alludes to 
it as a condiment used in dressing meats, dyeing, and 
other purposes, as well as a medicine. 

[ QQ ] 




CAPSICUM OR CAYENNE 

1 Zanzibar 3 Sierra Leone 

2 Bombay 4. 5, 6 and 7 Common Garden 



Cayenne pepper is supposed to have first been brought 
to America by the Portuguese, who found it growing 
in a wild state. Our greater supply now comes from 
Zanzibar, Nepaul, Bombay, and Penang. 

Almost every gardener knows the red pepper plant. 
The i^lants are generally started in a nursery or hot- 
house in early spring, from the seed, and are trans- 
planted when a few inches high, as soon as the weather 
will permit, in the prepared garden, about four feet 
apart. When about six inches high, a little rich fer- 
tilizer should be worked in the soil about the plants. 
The Cayenne pepper plant is an annual and is a slow 
grower, and it seldom rises higher than four feet. It 
has a rough stem, nearly globulous, with branches dif- 
fused and often scandent ; the leaves are lancelate, quite 
entire and repand, small, smooth, petioled, alternate in 
pairs or near each other, greenish white flowers, seldom 
violaceous ; solitary or in twos and threes with rotate five, 
rarely six or seven, cleft corrolla; stamens, five, and 
rarely six or seven, with five bluish anthers (connivent 
and dehising longitudinally) and an obtuse stigma, calyx 
usually embracing base of ovary, which soon becomes 
a pod, consisting of a fleshy envelope at first and after- 
wards a leathery, oblong, linear, juiceless pod or fruit, 
in which are the spongy pulp and seeds. These fruit 
pods are of several varieties, varying in shape and color, 
and being long or short, podded and oval, round or 
heart-shaped. The pods are bright red or yellow, 
divided into two or three cells full of small white seeds, 
known as pod pepper. The pods which are of a green 
color, when full grown, commence to change first to a 
lovely canary yellow and then to a rose pink, and so 
on through the difl*erent shades until they are intense 
scarlet when ready for harvesting in August and Sep- 
tember (see illustration). 

Don gives a list of thirty-three varieties in his General 
System of Gardening and Botany, which are used to 
make Cayenne pepper, but there are ninety difl'erent 
species of capsicum known, and ranging in height from 
a small plant of six inches to ornamental plants 
six feet in height, and of many varieties or species 

[ 67 ] 



of capsicum two contribute to that found in com- 
merce. 

The C. frutescens of the Fastigiatum (perennial) 
sometimes reaches to a height of several feet with 
branching and spreading tops, sometimes decumbent, 
leaves broadly ovate, fruit of various shapes and colors, 
usually small and very pungent, borne on long peduncles 
and is the species which is officinal in both the British 
and United States Pharmacopoeias. It grows in tropi- 
cal Africa and America and is called Zanzibar pepper, 
and often by the name of Mexican chillies, and is of a 
high grade of Cayenne (Fig. 1). Its pods are very 
small, being from one-half to three-fourths inch long 
and very bright red, containing white seeds, the skin of 
the pods being tender and very pungent. The color of 
its powder is lighter yellow than C. annum, has a fibrous 
root system. Potato and tomato belonging to the same 
family, it is found growing in the United States and 
Europe and has been growing in English gardens since 
1548 and, although indigenous to South America, is now 
cultivated in India, Hungary, Italy, and Turkey. 

Nepaul capsicum (or Nepal and Nipal), as it is 
sometimes called, has an odor and flavor resembling orris 
and a pod the color of amber when dried. It is most 
esteemed as a condiment, being aromatic and appetizing, 
and not so acrid or biting as is most Cayenne. It is 
found cultivated on the mountain side in Hindoostan. 

Cayenne of the African variety comes from Sierra 
Leone in the east and from Natal, southeast of Cape 
Colony, including Zululand and Tangaland, or from a 
territory that has a coast line of 300 miles. It grows to 
a height of five or six feet producing long, kidney- 
shaped, orange-colored pods. It is shipped from the 
port of Natal. It is considered the best for fluid extract. 
That from Sierra Leon (Fig, 3) has pods that are small, 
conical-pointed, and less than one inch in length. It is 
very pungent, and when reduced to powder is a light 
brownish yellow with a peculiar odor and somewhat aro- 
matic. It is stronger in the powder than in the dry fruit, 
and to the taste is bitterish, acrid, and burning, producing, 
a fiery sensation in the mouth, which continues for a long 

[ 68 ] 




CAYENNE 



time. There is a new Cayenne on the market of recent 
date, called Mombassa, from the city of the same name 
in Africa. 

Bombay Cayenne (Fig. 3) has large pods, from two 
to three inches long, which when dry become flat in shape 
and of a pale-red color. It is not so fine flavored or pun- 
gent as the Zanzibar and is of less value. 

The true Mexican chillies are grov/n mostly in Fran- 
tera de Tabasco, Mexico, the name being much used 
for Cayenne chillies from other countries, as has been 
mentioned. 

The smaller varieties (C haccatum) have been known 
in the English gardens since 1731 ; plants, small and very 
erect, and slender branches, fastigiate, flexous; corolla, 
small, spreading about one-half an inch, and has a globu- 
lar fruit called cherry or berry capsicum, and are usually 
known as the " chillies " or " bird pepper." They are 
not more than one-half to three-quarters of an inch while 
the C. annuum is two to three inches long. 

C. fastigiatum [minimum) which is usually termed 
the shrubbery capsicum and by Rheede is called capo- 
malago, is found growing wild in South India and is 
extensively cultivated in tropical Africa and America. 
It is three to six feet high with prominently angled or 
somewhat channeled stem and loosely spreading or trail- 
ing branches ; leaves broadly ovate and acuminate, three 
to six inches long and two to three and one-half inches 
wide; peduncles, slender and one to two inches long in 
pairs, usually longer than the fruit; calyx, cup-shaped, 
embracing base of fruit; corolla, often with acherous 
markings in the throat ; fruit, red, obtuse or oblong, acu- 
minate, three-fourths to one and one-fourth inches long, 
and one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch in diameter, 
and very acrid. 

C. annuum (Longum crossum), bell-shaped, of 
Algeria, which are often spoken of as herbaceous, and 
by Rheede as vallia capo-malago, the difference being 
chiefly in the nature of the stem. 

It is two feet high with few branches and very large 
leaves, often three to five inches long, and sometimes 
caricous, lower ones usually pendant petioles, deeply 

[ 69 ] 



channeled; peduncles, about one inch long; corolla, 
large and spreading seven-eighths to one and one- fourth 
inches; fruit, large, oblate, oblong or truncated, three 
to four-lobed, usually with basal depressions, more or 
less sulcate and rugose ; flesh, thick, firm and mild flavor. 

The Minimum in Hindoostan is named " Dhan 
Nurich." The C. grossum bears fruit as large as a 
small apple and is called by the English in India cofl'rie 
chillie. It is preferred for pickling, the seed being first 
removed. The skin is fleshy and tender. 

C. fasciculatum has few branches and clustered leaves 
or crowded in branches about the summit, elliptical, lance- 
olate, pointed at both ends ; fruit clustered erect, slender, 
about three inches long, one-fourth inch in diameter, 
very acrid and is the red cluster pepper. 

Acuminatum (C. chilense) , herbaceous, very branchy, 
about two and one-half feet high, becoming a dense 
mass of foliage; flowers, medium size, spreading one- 
half to three-fourths inch; fruit, larger than C. fascicu- 
latum. 

C. cei'asiforme has leaves medium ovate, oblong, acu- 
minate, about one and one-fourth to three and one-half 
inches long ; calyx seated on base of fruit ; corolla, large 
and spreading seven-eighths to one and one-half inches ; 
fruit, one-half to one-eighth inch thick, spherical, sub- 
cordate, oblate or occasionally obscurely pointed, or 
slightly elongated, smooth, or, rarely, minutely rugose 
or sulcate ; extremely pungent, and cherry yellow. 

Tetragomum, or bonnet pepper, is a species much- 
esteemed in Guiana, which bears very large, handsome, 
fleshy fruit, two colors, scarlet and golden yellow; and 
C. frutescens (spur or goat pepper) has been growing 
in the English gardens since 1856, is said to yield most 
of the Cayenne pepper which comes from the West 
Indies and South Amreica ; largely used in salads. 

A kind called tobacco pepper is said to possess the 
most pungent properties of any of the species. It 
yields a small red pod generally less than an inch in 
length, and is longitudinal in shape, mostly borne above 
the leaves, and is so exceedingly hot that a small quantity 
of it is suflicient to season a large dish of any food. 

[ 70 ] 



Owing to its oleaginous character it has been found im- 
possible to preserve it by drying, but by pouring strong 
boiling vinegar on it a sauce or decoction can be made 
which will possess in a concentrated form all the essen- 
tial qualities of the vegetable, a single drop being enough 
to flavor a whole plate of soup or food. 

The chilli plant is the Lat-tsiao of Cochin Chinese. 
It is constanly found in its wild state in the eastern 
islands. These varieties are enumerated by botanists; 
their fruits differ in degrees of pungency. All capsi- 
cum is a low grade of Cayenne. It requires but the 
simplest culture, and cultivation appears to increase the 
size of the fruit, but it diminishes its pungency. 

Several varieties of C. annuum have little or no pun- 
gency. One of these is abundantly grown in Austria- 
Hungary, from which we obtain Paprika of the Mag- 
yars. Another kind is imported into this country from 
Spain in a powder for feeding birds to improve the 
colors of their feathers and to make them sing. 

There are growing in the botanical gardens of Cal- 
cutta six species of capsicum, viz, annuum, grossum, 
frutescenSj, haccatum, purpureum, and minimum. The 
grossum in Hindoostan is called " Kaffrie Murich " and 
of the frutescens there are two varieties, the red and the 
yellow, called by the Bengalese " lall-lunka," " Murich " 
and " huldi-lunka " Murich. The Cyngalese name for 
frutescens is Casnairis. There is said to be a black pod 
as well as a red and yellow known on the Island of 
Ceylon. 

The consumption of chillies in India is immense, as 
they are used by both rich and poor and constitute the 
principal seasoning for the poor in their rice. The 
natives of the West Indies, Africa, and Mexico use them 
very extensively. 

West India stomachic man-drum is prepared by wash- 
ing a few pods of bird's pepper and mixing them with 
sliced cucumber and shallots, to which add a little lime 
juice or Madeira wine. 

A great quantity of agri or Guiana pepper is grown 
in Peru, a variety which the natives are very fond of as 
a condiment. It is not uncommon for an American 

[ 71 ] 



Indian to make a meal of twenty to thirty pods of capsi- 
cum and a little salt and a piece of bread washed down 
with chica, their popular beverage. 

The wort, or Cayenne pottage, may be termed the 
national dish of the Abyssinians, as that, or its basis, 
" dillock," is almost always eaten with their ordinary 
diet. Equal parts of salt and well-powdered red Cay- 
enne pod are mixed together with a little pea or bean 
meal to make a paste which is called dillock. This mix- 
ture is made in quantities at a time, being preserved in a 
large gourd shell, generally suspended from the roof. 
The wort is merely a little water added to the paste, which 
is boiled over the fire with the addition of a little fat 
meat. More meal is added to make a kind of porridge, 
to which sometimes are also added several warm seeds, 
such as the common cress or black mustard. Sometimes 
the larger peppers are harvested when full grown, while 
yet green in color, to be used for mangoes by removing 
the seeds and stuffing with chow-chow pickles. Cay- 
enne may be considered one of the most useful vege- 
tables in hygiene as a stimulant and auxiliary in diges- 
tion and has been considered invaluable in warm climates. 
It is used medicinally for various ailments in form of 
tinctures, as a rubefacient and stimulant, especially in 
case of ulcerated sore throat and also dropsy, colic, and 
toothache; when mixed with honey and applied exter- 
nally is a good remedy for quinsy. It is also used for 
tropical fevers, for gout and paralysis. It acts on the 
stomach as an aromatic condiment and when preserved 
in acetic acid it forms chilli vinegar. When the seed of 
the chillies or capsicum is fresh it has a penetrating, acrid 
smell, and this irritant property which prevails obscures 
the narcotic action. Its acridity is owing to an oleagi- 
nous substance called capsicine, and this extremely pun- 
gent principle produces a most painful burning in the 
mouth. Capsicum or chillies is generally imported in 
bales of 130 pounds each and occasionally is bottled in 
vinegar when green or ripe. In the large factories a 
special mill is usually reserved for powdering Cayenne 
exclusively, instead of burr-stone mills with the ordinary 
shaking sifter. A high-speed iron plate mill is often 

[ 72 ] 




PUBLIC BUILDINGS. BOMBAY 




A MADRAS FAMILY 
As the children marry, they build an addition to the old home 



used, and in connection with this a large revolving reel 
is required for sifting the spice as it is ground. The 
coarse part or tailings are returned to the mill auto- 
matically by means of a suitable, connected-bucket ele- 
vator. A special grinding outfit of this kind can be 
arranged so that it does not require much attention from 
the workman, a device which is very essential, as the fine 
powder works into the skin and great care must be used 
in handling the goods. Small grinders prefer to buy it 
powdered from the large factories. Sometimes the 
powdered Cayenne pepper is adulterated by mixing 
with wheat flour and made into cakes with yeast and 
baked hard like biscuit, then they are ground and sifted. 

The pericarp consists of two layers, the outer being 
composed of yellow, thick- walled cells; the inner layer 
is twice as broad and exhibits a soft, shrunken paren- 
chyma, traversed by their fibro-vascular bundles. The 
cells of the outer layer are especially the seat of the fine 
granules of coloring matter, which contain a fat or oily 
substance, as may be found if they are removed by alco- 
holic solution of potash. 

The structural details of this fruit afford interesting 
subjects for microscopical investigation. The peculi- 
arities described are so distinctive that the presence of 
foreign matter is easily detected. The cells of the peri- 
carp or epidermis are of a peculiar flattened and chain- 
like angular form, which are characteristic of Cayenne. 
The other structures are not as prominent, but are not 
liable to be confounded with those of any adulterants. 
Diagrammatic representatives of this structure are given 
in Fig. 45, Chap. Ill, and the appearance of the pure 
ground Cayenne under polarized light in Fig. 44. 

The portions of the seed in the powder are not readily 
distinguished without careful examination. They are, 
however, characteristic and contain starch, the form of 
which is shown in Fig. 20, Chap. III. The adulterants 
used are mineral coloring matter to hide the loss of color, 
which takes place on exposure of Cayenne to light, and 
for added weight ground rice, tumeric, husk of mustard, 
etc. Rice and corn flour adulterations are shown in 
Fig. 45, which cannot be confused with the few starch 

[ 73 ] 



grains found in the lower layer of the pericarp or in the 
seed. The tumeric and mustard are recognized by their 
peculiar structure. 

The chemical composition of capsicum is ( 1 ) a fixed oil 
without sharp smell or taste and which is almost entirely 
in the seed; (2) a camphor-like substance which tastes and 
smells sharp, and which contains the pecuHar principle of 
Cayenne (capsicine) ; this principle is found both in the 
pod and in the seeds, but in greater quantity in the pod; 
(3) a resinous body, the red coloring matter (capsicimi 
red) , which is found only in the pod. 

In the detection of the adulterations of Cayenne by 
chemical methods, determination of water and ash, 
ether extracts and albuminoids are of value, and as a rule 
when combined with a microscopic examination will 
reveal the means and amounts of adulterations without 
difficulty. 

Chemical composition of Capsicum annum, water at 
100 degrees : 



Water at 100 deg.. 


Seed, 


8.12 


Pod, 


14.75 


Whole Fruit, 


11.94 


Albuminoids, 


Seed, 


18.31 


Pod, 


10.69 


Whole Fruit, 


13.88 


Fat (ether extract) , 


Seed, 


28.54 


Pod, 


5.48 


Whole Fruit, 


15.26 


Nitrogen, free ex- 


' 












tract bj' difference, 


Seed, 


21.33 


Pod, 


38.73 


Whole Fruit, 


32.63 


Crude Fiber, . 


Seed, 


17.50 


Pod, 


23.75 


Whole Fruit, 


21.09 


Ash, 


Seed, 


3.20 


Pod, 


6.62 


Whole Fruit, 


5.20 


Total, .... 


97.00 


100.00 


100.00 


Nitrogen, . 




2.93 




1.71 




2.22 



[ 74 ] 




PIMENTO OR ALLSPICE 
1 Garden Allspice 2 Wild Allspice 



CHAPTER VIII 

PIMENTOj OR ALLSPICE 

WH AT' S in a name ? That which we call allspice 
by any other name would have as fine a flavor. 
Pimento officinalis (Myrtus Eugenia pi- 
menta) , an order of Jamaica Pepper (Icasandria Mon- 
ogyia) . 

Pimenta vulgaris myrtaceae. (These are names 
applied to the immature fruit of pimento.) 

Spanish name, Pimento. 

French, Piment des Anglais Toute epice Poivre de la 
Jamiaque. 

German, Nelkenpfeffer, Nelkenkopfe, Neugewurz. 

The pimento tree belongs to the myrtle family and is 
one of the most beautiful trees known as an evergreen. 
It grows to a height of from twenty to thirty feet and 
occasionally it reaches a height of forty feet. It is slen- 
der, straight, and upright, with many branches at its top. 
The trunk is covered by a smooth, gray, or ashen-browa 
aromatic bark which peels oif in flakes as the tree grows. 
The leaves are opposite, stalked from four to six inches 
long, and are oblong, lanceolate, and somewhat taper- 
ing. The petioles are blunt and rather emarginated 
at the apex, and entire, smooth on both surfaces, with 
deep green, pale, and minute glands, dotted beneath, 
with the midrib prominent. They are particularly 
aromatic when fresh, abounding in essential oil 
which is the aromatic property of all kinds of fra- 
grant fruits. ^ 

This tree is a native of the West Indies, and is found 
most abundantly on the limestone hills on the Island of 
Jamaica. It is the only common spice having its origin 
in the New World. It is found, but not in abundance, 
in most of the West India Islands, as well as in Mexico, 
Costa Rica, and Venezuela. It takes it name, pimento, 
from the Spanish word for pepper. This name was 

[ 75 ] 



given to it by early explorers of the New World because 
of its resemblance to pepper corn. It is called allspice 
because of the combination, or of the supposed combina- 
tion, of various flavors. 

Some M Titers have claimed that it is a child of Nature, 
and that it defies cultivation, but this is a mistake, as 
may be seen by comparing the illustrations of the garden 
berry (Fig. 1) with those of the wild berry (Fig. 2). 
It is seldom cultivated, however, and it is found at its 
best growing wild 6,000 feet above the sea and very near 
the coast line, on a poor rocky lime or chalky soil, with a 
very shallow surface mold. 

The tree will not do well in a clay or sandy or marshy 
soil, but the soil must be kept well drained, and a hot, dry 
climate is the best. Since the pimento seeds are scat- 
tered by birds, the trees are found in greater or less num- 
bers in many parts of the Island of Jamaica. They 
sometimes are found in groups of from five to twenty, 
and again in great forests. It is the predominating 
tree on the island and is seldom found alone. 

After the tree has obtained a certain growth the 
underbrush and other wood, with some of the pimento 
trees, are cut out, leaving the trees from twenty to twen- 
ty-five feet aj)art, as they will not yield so well if left 
closer. It is in this way that the beautiful pimento 
walks (Pi-men-to-wak) are formed which we read of in 
Jamaica. 

The pimento tree flowers twice each year, in July 
and April, but it bears only one crop annually and 
begins to bear when three years old, and arrives at 
maturity at seven years, when it abundantly repays the 
patience of the planter. 

In July the tree is covered with small greenish-wliite 
fragrant flowers of four reflected petals. The flowers 
are in bunches or trichotomous panicles at the extremities 
of the branches with a calyx divided into four roundish 
segments. The filaments are numerous and longer than 
the corolla, spreading, and of the same color as the 
petals, supporting roundish white anthers. The style 
is short and single and erect with an obtuse stigma. As 
the tree branches symmetrically, and has a very luxuriant 

[ 76 ] 



foliage, its rich green leaves and profusion of small 
white flowers give a very handsome appearance. The 
air is freighted with its fragrance for quite a long dis- 
tance, and every breeze which disturbs its branches con- 
veys the delicious odor. 

The fruit which appears soon after the blossoms, is 
a smooth, glossy, succulent, globular berry, from two- 
tenths to three-tenths of an inch in diameter, or about 
the size of a small pea. 

Planters do not allow the berries to ripen fully, 
because in that case they would be difficult to cure and 
would become black and tasteless, losing their aromatic 
property. When the berries have their full size in the 
month of August, though yet green in color, they are 
gathered. 

The harvesting is done by hand, by breaking off the 
twigs and stems which bear the berries. These are 
placed on a raised wooden floor or terrace to dry on mats 
for from seven to twelve days in the sunshine. Great 
care should be taken to turn them, so as to expose them 
fully to the sun, to prevent their quality being injured 
by moisture. Some planters dry them in kilns. 

The one who removes the berries from the trees keeps 
three persons busy gathering them below, who are usu- 
ally women or children. Care must be taken to sepa- 
rate, as far as possible, all ripe berries from those which 
are green, as otherwise the crop will be made of inferior 
quality. The fruit, which necessarily ripens on the tree, 
before the bulk of the crop is harvested, falls to the 
ground and is of no commercial value, as it has lost its 
aromatic properties. The problem which the planter 
has to contend with of harvesting his crop before it 
ripens is a serious one, for the harvesting often must be 
done rapidly, and it is often difficult to obtain help 
enough among the indolent natives to pick the crop. 
Thus many thousand pounds often go to waste. In wet 
weather the system of smoking is sometimes adopted 
for drying. The proper degree of dryness is ascer- 
tained by the wrinkled appearance and by the dark or 
reddish-brown color of the spice and the rattling noise 
made by the seeds when they are shaken. When the 

[ 77^] 



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berries begin to drj^ they are frequently laid in cloths to 
preserve them from the dews. They are exposed to the 
sun's rays every day and removed under cover every 
evening until sufficiently dry. They lose one-third of 
their weight in drying. The breaking of the branches 
in gathering the fruit answers to a rude kind of prun- 
ing. The crop is very abundant, some trees yielding as 
high as 150 pounds of green or 100 j^ounds of dried 
berries. 

Pimento is exported chiefly from Kingston, Jamaica, 
in 120 to 130-pound bags. About one-third of the crop 
comes to the United States; most of the balance goes 
to England, whence it is exported to other countries. 
The pimento del tobasco tree, a native of Mexico, pro- 
duces a larger berry than the true pimento, but it is less 
aromatic and is often used to adulterate the allspice of 
commerce, but the true pimento is so cheap that it is 
adulterated but very little. The pimento is ground on 
common burr stones. It is used for medicinal purposes 
to prevent the taste of nauseous drugs, and it stimulates 
and gives tone to the stomach. It is sometimes used in 
tanning some kinds of leather. The small trees are used 
for walking-sticks and for umbrella handles. The 
berry is crowned with a persistent calyx of a black or 
dark-purple color when ripe, and when the four short 
thick sepals are rubbed off a scar is left like an elevated 
ring. At the other extremity of the fruit there is a 
shorter stalk attached. 

The berry has a brittle, woody shell or pericarp, easily 
cut, of a dark ferruginous-brown color externally. The 
roughness on the surface is caused by the smaU essential 
oil receptacles. The berry is less aromatic than the peri- 
carp. Its hull consists of a delicate epidermis of large 
thin-walled cells with light or dark red contents which 
are called portwine cells (see illustrations). Fig. 46, 
Chap. III. 

The fruit is two-celled, each cell containing a single 
flattish or kidney-shaped berry. The embryo is large 
and spirally curved, and the berry, when ripe, is filled 
with a sweetish pulp, which has then partly lost the aro- 
matic property which it contained in the unripe state. 

[ 78 ] 




HARVESTING OF ALLSl'H K 



The aroma is supposed to be a mixture of the aromas 
of nutmegs, cloves, and cinnamon. 

The microscope shows that the outer layer of the peri- 
carp just beneath the epidermis contains, with its col- 
lection of brown cells, an interior mass of fibro-vascular 
bundles traversing a mass of tissues of constructed par- 
enchymous-walled cells, containing resin and tannin and 
small crystals of calcic oxalates. The seed contains 
much starch in minute grains, and yields from 3 per cent, 
to 414 per cent, of volatile oil, by distillation. This oil 
is composed mainly of eugenol C10H12, and very closely 
resembles the oil of cloves in all respects, but in odor, the 
difference being in the nature of the sesquialteral 
accompanying the eugenol. Its specific gravity is 1.04 
to 1.05 at 15 degrees C. The yield of oil from the leaves 
is nearly 1 per cent. 

Polarized light is a most important aid in examining 
powdered allspice, as it brings out strongly the stone 
cells and ligneous tissue (Fig. 1, Chap. Ill), and dif- 
ferentiates these from the great mass of other matter. 
It also makes the oil cavities distinct. 

It is hard to give a true chemical composition of 
pimento, but a good understanding of the tannin should 
be known, and especially a good estimation of the vola- 
tile oil. The amount of ash found in pimento is about 
6 per cent, in the whole and 5 per cent, in the powdered 
state. 

The chemical composition of a sample of whole 
pimento was found to be as follows : 

Water, 6,l9 Undetermined, . . . 59.28 

Ash, 4.01 Albuminoids, .... 4.38 

Volatile Oil, . . . 3 to 4>j4 Nitrogen, 70 

Fixed Oil, 6.15 Tannin Equivalent, . . 10.97 

Crude Fiber, . . . .14.83 Oxygen Required, . . 2.81 

The best adulterant is baked barlej'-. 

The specific gravity of the volatile oil is 1.04 to 1.05 
at 15 degrees C. 

Pimento meal loses its aromatic flavor very rapidly. 

*The taste of allspice is warm, aromatic, pungent, and 
slightly astringent, and it imparts its flavor to water 

* State of Michigan, Dairy and Food Commission. 

[ 79 ] 



and all its virtue to alcohol. The infusion with water 
is of a brown color, and reddens litmus paper. All- 
spice yields volatile oil by distillation, a green fixed oil, 
a fatty substance in yellowish flakes, and tannin, gum, 
resin, sugar, coloring matter, malic and galic acids, 
saline matter, moisture and lignin. 

The green oil has the burning, aromatic taste of 
pimento, and is supposed to be the acrid principle. 
Upon this, therefore, together with the volatile oil, the 
active properties of the berries depend. The shell con- 
tains 10 per cent, of volatile oil, and perhaps a little 
chlorophyl. 

Allspice is reported to contain an alkaloid having the 
odor of caneine. The volatile oil, which is used as a 
flavoring in alcoholic solution, is of a brownish-red, clear 
appearance, and has the odor and taste of pimento, but 
is warmer and more pungent. It is readily soluble in 
alcohol, and if two drops of the oil be dissolved in one 
fluid drachm of alcohol, and a drop of ferric chloride 
test solution be added, a bright green color will be pro- 
duced. If one C. C. of the oil be shaken with twenty 
C. C. of hot water it should not give more than a scarcely 
perceptible acid reaction with litmus paper. 

If, after cooling, the liquid be passed through a wet 
filter, the clear filtrate will produce, with a drop of ferric 
chloride test solution, only a transient greyish green, 
but not a blue or violet color, a fact which indicates the 
absence of carbolic acid. 

Pimento oil consists, like the oil of cloves, of two dis- 
tinct oils, a light and heavy oil, separated by distilling the 
oil from caustic potassa. The light oil passes over, leav- 
ing the heavy oil behind, combined with the potassa. The 
heavy oil may be recovered by distilling the residue with 
sulphuric acid. The heavy oil has the acid property of 
combining with the alkalides, forming crystallized com- 
pounds, which is identical with the eugenol from the oil 
of cloves, from which is prepared the vanillin of com- 
merce. Powdered allspice is often adulterated with 
clove stems, peas, almond shells, cracker dust, etc. 



[ 80 ] 




CINNAMON AND CASSIA 

1 Ceylon 5 Sargon 

2 Batavia 6 Cassia Liguea bud 

3 Cassia Liguea 7 Leaf stalk or flowering twig- 

4 Java 



CHAPTER IX 

CINNAMON AND CASSIA 

Robbed of your bark in masses large, 
It's sent abroad by ship and barge; 
And India's fragrance you bestow. 
In summer climes and frigid snow. 

THE cinnamon tree has been known to live two 
hundred years and its history is nearly as old as the 
history of man. It appears to have been the first 
spice sought after in all Oriental voyages, and is one of 
the few condiments that has been honored with a price 
that only the wealthy can buy. Both cinnamon and 
cassia are mentioned as precious odoriferous substances 
in the Masonic writings. Bible history mentions cinna- 
mon at a very early date in Exodus, Chap. XXX, 23 ; in 
Proverbs, Chap. VII, 17; in Song of Solomon, Chap. 
IV, 14, being then introduced by the Phoenicians. It 
w^as likewise known to the Greeks and Romans under 
the name of kinnamomun. Vespasian, on his return 
from Palestine, dedicated to the Goddess of Peace, in 
one of the temples of the Capitol, garlands of cinnamon 
enclosed in polished gold, and in the temple built on 
Mount Palatine by the Empress Augusta in honor of 
Augustus Caesar, her husband, was placed a root of the 
cinnamon tree set in a golden cup. It is recorded that 
two hundred and ten burthens of spice were consumed 
on the funeral pile of Sylla, and that Nero burnt at the 
obsequies of his wife, Poppsea, a quantity of cinnamon 
and cassia exceeding the whole importation of one year. 
Dr. Carl Schumann's Kirtische unter Suchungen uber 
die Zimtlander, published as a supplement to Peter- 
mann's Mitterlungen, is a most erudite contribution to 
history of geography and commerce. The author care- 
fully examines the notices on cinnamon and cassia to 
be found in the writings of the ancients and of the 
Arabs, and critically examines these by the light of 
modern research. The ancient Egyptians procured 

[ 81 ] 



their cinnamon from punt, which is identified with the 
Rego Cinnamonifera at the promontory of Garadafiri 
of the modern SomaHland. But neither cinnamon nor 
cassia was a product of this region, nor are they at the 
present time, which is amply proved and illustrated by 
a consideration of the geographical distribution of the 
Louracea. Arabian merchants intentionally shrouded 
in mystery their manner or place of obtaining cinnamon 
and, in consequence, the ancients entertained the most 
preposterous ideas on the subject. 

The " Ivhisit " of the inscriptions of the temple of 
Doral Bahari is correctly translated cinnamon or cassia. 
The latter word and the gizi of Galen and the Keziah of 
the Hebrew are derived from it, but it is of itself a cor- 
ruption of Kei-shi, the Chinese name for cassia. From 
this fact, the author concludes that China supplied the 
ancient world with most, if not all, of its cinnamon, but 
did so through traders settled in parts of Arabia or the 
Somali coast, who maintained their monopoly until the 
discovery of cinnamon in the Island of Ceylon. 

Herodotus relates that cassia grew in Arabia, but that 
cinnamon was brought there by birds from India, the 
fabled birthplace of Bacchus. This writer states that 
cassia grew in a shallow lake, the borders of which were 
infested with winged animals resembling bats ; that these 
were powerful creatures and uttered piercing cries ; but 
that the Arabs made war against them for the purpose 
of obtaining the spice and, defending their eyes from 
the attack of the monsters, drove them from their strong- 
hold for a brief period and then, unmolested, collected 
the cassia. 

A still more marvelous account was g-iven by a 
Grecian historian of the manner in which cinnamon 
was obtained, which is as follows : " The Arabs them- 
selves were perfectly ignorant of the situation of the 
favored spots which produced this spice ; some, however, 
asserted with much appearance of probability that it 
grew in the country where Bacchus was born, and they 
gave the following account of the plan resorted to for 
obtaining cinnamon: Some very large birds collected 
together a quantity of the shoots and small branches of 

[ 82 ] 



the cinnamon and built their nests with it on the lofty 
mountains inaccessible to man; and the inhabitants of 
the country placed large pieces of carrion flesh near the 
haunts of the birds who bore it to their nests which, not 
being made strong enough to hold the additional load, 
gave way, falling to the valley below, where it was 
gathered up by the natives and exported to foreign 
lands." 

It was exported into India in the time of the authors 
of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, and even long 
before it was much used among masters of the ancient 
world. 

Celsius recommends that it should be given " perpa- 
rationem." It is mentioned in the herb book of the Chi- 
nese Emperor Shen-nong, and was known in China 
2,700 B. C. under the name of' " Kwei " and was intro- 
duced into Egypt about 1,600 or 1,500 B. C, and China 
maintained her monopoly until the discovery of cinna- 
mon on the Island of Ceylon. It would appear that 
cinnamon was not confined to Asia, much less to Ceylon, 
in former times. Ibn-Batuta is credited with having 
first mentioned the Island of Ceylon as a cinnamon 
region, for the Sayalan of Kazwini and Yakut is not 
Ceylon, as supposed by Colonel Yale and others, but 
Rami or Sumatra. 

The Romans were supplied by the Arabs, the cinnamon 
being carried up the Nile in ships, then across the desert 
on camels to the Red Sea, which they crossed to a port of 
Arabia, where India merchants were met and exchanges 
took place, the cinnamon being the most important 
article of commerce from India, and in this way the 
odors of the far-famed cinnamon spice came, by poetical 
liberty, to be associated with " Araby the Blest " by the 
system of transit by caravans overland through Arabia. 

The Romans communicated with India only once each 
year during the reign of Augustus, and at such times 
invested about £403,000 in the trade of cinnamon. 
They figured on about 100 per cent, profit. History 
tells us it was at one time sold in Rome at $25 per pound. 

Even in comparatively modern times the products of 
the more eastern parts of Asia were chiefly imported 

[83] 



into Europe by way of Egypt. The Venetians almost 
entirely controlled this lucrative branch of commerce, 
and through their hands these articles were supplied 
to the rest of Europe. But when the passage around 
the Cape of Good Hope was discovered by the Portu- 
guese, in 1498, Indian commerce was turned into a dif- 
ferent channel and the Portuguese soon supplanted the 
Venetians in the traffic of Indian commodities. Early 
in the sixteenth century they obtained permission from 
the powers of Ceylon to establish a factory on that island. 
Although the Europeans had obtained license from 
the ruling authorities to pursue this trade, the Arab 
merchants did not submit without a struggle to the intru- 
sion. They vigorously opposed the landing of the 
strangers who were taking their trade away from them, 
but the Portuguese built the fort of Colombo and soon 
after made a treaty with the king of Kandy, by the 
terms of which the Portuguese agreed to assist the king 
of Kandy and his successors in all their wars and in 
return were to receive out of the Kandyan territory an 
annual supply of 124,000 pounds of cinnamon. The 
Dutch viewed with a jealous eye the rich and thriving 
Portuguese, and soon after they established themselves 
in the East Indies, and became desirous of monopolizing 
the cinnamon trade, they tried to undermine the Portu- 
guese by showing favors to the king of Kandy, and 
in this way tried to have him di'ive the Portuguese from 
the island. The Dutch were partly successful in their 
bold attempt, as the king of Kandy, in 1612, agreed to 
sell the Dutch East India Company all the cinnamon 
that he could collect in his kingdom. The Portuguese, 
however, would not quietly submit, but after a long con- 
testing of the matter it ended in 1645 in a treaty of 
peace with the Dutch, by which both nations were to share 
equally. During the time this treaty was in force both 
nations employed native cinnamon cutters to cut and 
prepare the aromatic bark, and all that was collected 
on either side was deposited in a central situation upon 
the river Dondegam, near Negombo. When the cinna- 
mon harvest was completed an equal division of the 
quantity obtained was made, each party paying half the 

[ 84 ] 



cost of harvesting. This amicable arrangement was 
not, however, of very long continuance, and in 1652 a 
fresh war proved more disastrous to the Portuguese, 
who were finally expelled from the Island of Ceylon in 
1658. The Dutch now made strenuous efforts to ob- 
tain a monopoly of the cinnamon trade, and they also 
tried for the exclusive commerce of the JNlalabar coast. 
This was very expensive to the Dutch, as merchants of 
other countries, by paying a good price, were always able 
to obtain it from the natives notwithstanding the decrees 
of the princes of the country. 

All through the Portuguese and Dutch periods, cin- 
namon was the principal source of wealth. The Dutch 
first tried cultivating it in 1767, thereby occasioning 
much fear on the part of the native Sinhalese that the 
cultivation would ruin the cinnamon forest. Previous 
to this time, in 1506, large trees were found by the Por- 
tuguese growing wild and scattered tlirough the interior 
of Ceylon. The Dutch, after many attempts to restrict 
the cultivation of it to the Island of Ceylon, passed a 
law making the removal of the seed from the island a 
crime punishable by death. The law also provided that 
persons should be compelled to care for the tree, even if 
it were on their property, and it further provided that 
any person discovered in cutting a shrub of cinnamon 
on the island should have his right hand cut off. This 
law so retarded planting that up to 1808 or 1809 only 
15,000 acres were cultivated. Exportation was restricted 
to 8,000 bales of 100 pounds each. In 1796, Ceylon 
was captured by the English. They put an end to these 
barbarous laws, but a monopoly was continued until 
1832. Afterwards the cultivation of the tree was intro- 
duced by the Dutch into their own islands and the Malay 
Peninsula, an act which would have been much more 
creditable to the Dutch had they tried this means earlier, 
instead of warring with other countries. 

It is estimated that the world's production of true 
cinnamon does not exceed 400,000,000 pounds, while 
an equal amount of cassia is collected chiefly in China 
and the East Indies. Cinnamon is not an article which 
enters into the daily food of the masses of the people, 

[ 85 ] 



and the consumption does not increase with a low price 
or decrease when the price is high. The present con- 
sumption does not equal one pound to each 500 inhabit- 
ants of the earth. 

Cinnamon and cassia blume are the barks of several 
species of genus cinnamonmm (natural order lau- 
roceoe) and the true cinnamon, with which cassia is often 
compounded, is produced by cinnamomum Zeylanicum, 
formerly called Laurus, which is a member of the laurel 
family (French, Cannele de Ceylon; German, Zimmt 
Ceylon, Zinimt Kaneel; Arabic name, Kinsman) . 

The true cinnamon tree, if left in its natural states, 
varies in height and dimensions in different sections, 
growing to the height of twenty to forty feet with a 
straight trunk, and is from twelve to eighteen inches in 
diameter. It is the hardiest of any of the spice trees, 
and in its natural climate grows on almost any soil and 
at almost any elevation, with an average temper- 
ature of 85 degrees and an inch of rainfall for 
every degree. It may be grown by cultivation 
in any place where it is found growing wild. When 
sheltered from the wind and the direct rays of the hot 
sun, it will grow from 1,500 to 8,000 feet above the 
sea level. It is found in those angles of the mountains 
which face the monsoons. Where it is cultivated, it 
is cut back when six years old to about fifteen feet and 
every two years thereafter, and then has the general 
appearance of an orange tree. It is an evergreen with 
a beautiful scarlet foliage which changes to a dark glossy 
green. 

The leaf and leaf-stalk are globous and are nearly 
opposite, oblong, ovate, obtuse, the largest being from 
eleven to twelve centimeters in length and from five to 
seven centimeters in width. The leaf is coriaceous and 
shining bright green above and glaucous beneath. 
Besides the middle vein there are also two other veins 
on each side starting from the stalk, rounded to the 
shape of the edge of thp leaf nearly to its extremity. 
The leaves on drying acquire a reddish brown color due 
to the oxidation of the essential oil which they contain. 

Small, dingy, white or greenish blossoms disposed in 

[ 86 ] 



terminal panicles appear in January or February, their 
strong and unpleasant odor resembling a mixture of 
lilac and rose. In color they resemble mignonette. By 
May they develop into small, purplish, brown-colored 
berries enclosed at the base by a calyx and shaped hke 
an acorn. The berry contains a soft brown pulp and 
has but one seed, which ripens in August and is gathered 
by the natives for the fragrant oil it contains. 

The entire tree contains an aromatic flavor of cinna- 
mon and no part of it is lost, as the entire tree is used 
for some purpose, every part of it having a distinct 
flavor. It is impossible to discover the cause or causes 
by means of which different qualities are produced from 
the same branch, since the shoots and the same tree 
are found to yield cinnamon of different qualities. The 
quality of a cinnamon tree is often determined by the 
size of the leaves, as well as by tasting the inner bark; 
the larger the leaf the better bark the tree will afford. 
The quality of the bark varies very much with local 
conditions, some being so inferior as to be harvested only 
for the purpose of adulterations. Two of these inferior 
varieties are the korahedi and the velli, the latter growing 
more quickly than any other cinnamon known, being 
often at two years' growth four to five inches in girth 
and eight to ten feet high. It has a very coarse bark 
and takes its name from sand velli because it grits under 
the teeth. The bark is often so hard that it will turn 
the edge of a peeling knife. There are several varieties 
of cinnamon. Next in order after Ceylon are the fol- 
lowing : 

1. Penne or Rosse Kuroondu (which signifies honey 
or sweet cinnamon) . 

2. Nay a Kuroondu (or snake cinnamon) . 

3. Ka'pooru Kuroondu {ov QBxn^hor) . 

4. Kahatte Kuroondu (or astringent cinnamon). 

5. Sevel Kuroondu (or mucilaginous cinnamon). 

6. Dowool Kuroondu (flat or drum cinnamon) . 

7. Nika Kuroondu (or wild cinnamon, whose leaf 
resembles that of nicaso or vitx negundo). 

8. Mai Kuroondu (or bloom or flower cinnamon). 

9. Tompat K. (or trefoil cinnamon) . 

[ 87 ] 



Only the first four are strictly varieties of the Laurus 
Cinnamomum, and as the names given are only known 
by the planters of cinnamon or by the native Sinhalese, 
I will not refer to them again except by the names 
known to commerce. 

The true cinnamon is a native of the Island of Ceylon 
and it adds sweetness to the breezes which " blow softly 
o'er Ceylon's Isle," and nowhere else has it been found 
growing so well or so spontaneously. The large trees scat- 
tered through the older forests of the interior are every 
year gorgeous in bloom of every shade of pink from a 
faint rose to blood red. The Ceylon variety is the best in 
the world, and the product in 1904 was 9,216 hundreds, 
valued at $278,430. It grows up six or seven feet, like 
willows, and the twigs are cut down for exportation ; the 
smaller the twigs the finer the quality. 

The farm plantation is called a " Cinnamon Garden." 
In Ceylon these gardens are the most famous in the 
world, the owners living like princes. Some of the 
carved wood in these homes are literally worth their 
weight in gold. There are certain trees and species that 
are taken in charge by the royal surgeons. Such have 
the official stamp indicating what their medical value is. 
This cinnamon commonly sells at $15 to $25 per pound 
and sometimes as high as $100. While the ordinary 
China cassia, handled by our grocers, sells at wholesale 
at six or seven cents a pound. The medicinal cassia, 
however, has about the value for cooking purposes that 
the ordinary Saigon cassia has. Many cinnamon gar- 
dens are being rooted up and planted to tea, however, 
as tea culture is more profitable. A sandy loam soil 
mixed with humus matter is favorable for the culture of 
cinnamon, and old, worn, coiFee estates are often used in 
Ceylon for cinnamon plantations. 

The cinnamon crop has few enemies. Cattle, goats, 
and squirrels eat the growing shoots while tender. The 
principal insect enemy is a minute beetle that breeds in 
the leaves and sometimes does injury by retarding the 
growth and rendering the wood unpeelable, as well as 
unhealthy. A red worm, about two inches long, eats 
its way up the center of some old and unhealthy sticks 

[ 88 ] 




COLOMBO, CEYLON 




A PLANTATION IN CEYLON 



growing on partially decayed roots, but the injury from 
the insect is scarcely worth considering. White ants eat 
dead roots but seldom injure living wood, and they are 
to some extent enemies of all other insects which prey 
upon cinnamon trees. They build their nests around 
live branches, but this does not interfere with their 
growth. Crows and wood pigeons devour the berries 
with great eagerness, but in the process of digestion 
the productive qualities of the seed are not injured and 
by this means the seed is scattered over a large extent of 
country. Plants may be raised from the seed or by 
" laying." The culture of the best kind, which is the 
true C. Zeylanicum, a cultivated Curanda or honey cin- 
namon (called penne rasse Kuroondu by the Sinhalese), 
is from the Kadirona, Ekla and Muradana gardens, 
between Colombo and Negunbo, which occupy a tract of 
country upwards of ten miles in length and in a winding 
circuit; as well as from the Maratuwa and Beruwala 
gardens, and those of Galle and Matara. 

There is also a Cingalese bark found in the archi- 
pelago, which is very pungent and much resembles the 
true bark from Ceylon. It brings a fair price on the 
market, and is more aromatic than that of Ceylon. 
There are several kinds of it, some of it bringing an ex- 
orbitant price, and it is cultivated solely for royal use. 
The outer bark is never removed from it and for that 
reason it has the dark Java color. It, like the Saigon, 
is exported in 500-pound bundles. 

No system was first regarded in planting cinnamon 
groves in Ceylon. This neglect greatly hindered culti- 
vation. The usual way of establishing a garden is first 
to cut down all the brush and small trees on new ground, 
leaving the tall trees at intervals of from fifty to sixty 
feet, as a protection from the wind and from the strong 
hot rays of the sun. The fallen brush is next burned 
and the plat cleared is lined out. The soil is turned up 
for hills in squares of about one to four feet at intervals 
of from six to ten feet, according to the richness of the 
soil. The longer intervals being provided with the richer 
soil. The ash from the burned brush mixed with the 
broken ground and vegetable matter, and from four to 

[ 89 ] 



five of the berries are sown in each hill. Branches of 
trees are placed over the earth where the seed is planted 
to protect them from the sun and to keep the earth from 
parching. 

Care should be taken in selecting the seed, as that 
from trees ten years old and up is best. Seed from old 
trees with coarse wood produces coarse and unpeelable 
bark, which helps to increase the chips. If the tree is 
to be raised from shoots, the youngest, or those not 
containing more than three leaves, must be selected, for 
if older they will surely die. The method of raising 
plants from layers is very good, because the numerous 
side branches which issue from the bottom of the trunk 
also furnish an abundant supply, well adapted for the 
purpose intended. The transplanting of the divisions 
of old roots or stumps is also much approved, as they 
yield shoots of useful size twelve months after planting. 
Great care must be taken in planting or removing the 
roots or the divisions of the parent stump, for should 
any of the rootlets become bruised, even to the tenth 
part of an inch in diameter, the injured part will cer- 
tainly perish. Care must also be taken when removing 
the roots or stumps to keep as much earth on them as 
possible, or as can be carried with them. The dirt 
originally taken from the holes should not be returned, 
but there should be used, instead, that from the sur- 
face which has been burned and contains ashes mixed 
with vegetable manure. When old cinnamon trees are 
cut down and burned on their stumps, the roots will 
later produce a superior quality of cinnamon. Plant- 
ing of seed is least advantageous as it requires greater 
attention than other modes, and the trees are longer 
reaching perfection. As they are planted four to five 
seeds in a hill, and as they are quite sure to germinate, 
the plants grow in clusters. Should no rain fall after 
planting on either the roots or stumps, they must be kept 
watered every morning and evening until the sprouts 
shoot out fresh buds. This will be in about two weeks 
from the planting and is an indication that they have 
taken root. In a month the shoots will be from three to 
four inches high. When seed is sown and dry weather 

[ 90 ] 




Qalle Harbour. 



GALLE HARBOR 




NEGOMBO CANAL 



follows, the seedlings will perish. It will be necessary, 
therefore, to plant the ground anew. It is wise, there- 
fore, to raise plants in a nursery to supply the vacancies 
in the hills. 

For a nursery, a plat of rich soil is selected, free from 
stone and cleared from brushwood, except the tall trees, 
which are left for shade. The ground is dug over and 
formed into beds from three to four feet wide and the 
seed is sown nine to twelve inches apart and shaded at 
eight to twelve inches above ground, by a pendall of 
leaves. The plants are kept watered on alternate days 
until they have one pair of leaves, but the shade should 
not be removed until the plants are six to eight inches 
high and are able to bear the sun. The seed will germi- 
nate in from two to three weeks. The planting takes 
place in autumn when the seed is gathered fully ripe. 
The seeds are heaped up in shady places, as the sun would 
crack and spoil them ; the outer red coating will rot, turn 
black, and come off easily; the seed is then washed and 
dried in the air, but not in the sun ; that which will float 
on water is rejected. The plants are taken from the 
nursery in October and November, and under favorable 
situations they will grow from five to six feet high in from 
six to seven years. A healthy bush will then afl'ord two 
or three shoots ready for peeling, but should unfavor- 
able results occur they will not yield for from eight to 
twelve years. After the plants are fully established in 
the field, very little cultivation is required, except to 
keep them free from the weeds. In a good soil from 
four to seven shoots may be cut every two years. Some- 
times thriving plants may be cut first in four years and 
sometimes even in two years. 

The quality of the bark depends upon its position on 
the branch; that from the middle is the best, that from 
the top second, and that from the base, which is the 
thicker part of the branch, the third grade. Shoots 
exposed during growth to the direct rays of the sun 
have their bark more acrid and spicy than the bark of 
those which grow in the shade. A marshy soil rarely 
produces good cinnamon, its texture being cross-grained 
and spongy, with little aroma. The quality is deter- 

[91 ] 



mined by the thinness of the bark — the thinner and 
more phable the finer. The finest quahty of bark is 
smooth and somewhat shiny and of a light yellow color. 
The shoot bends before it breaks, and when the fracture 
occurs it is generally in the form of a splinter which has 
an agreeable, warm, aromatic taste with a slight degree 
of sweetness. 

Two crops are gathered each year — the first from 
April to August and the second from November to 
January. These particular seasons are selected for har- 
vesting on account of their coming just after the heavy 
rains, just as the young, red leaf assumes the normal 
dark green. The sap then is more active and the bark 
is more easily detached. If there is not sufficient rain 
the garden may have to be cut over several times. 

In harvesting, the shoots are not all cut at one time, 
but by degrees as they arrive at the required maturity. 
Those sticks which promise to peel at the next cutting 
are left. In pruning, with plenty of help, every stick 
older than two years is cut, whether it will j)eel or not. 

A grayish, corky appearance is an indication of the 
fitness of the shoots for cutting. A certain amount is 
marked off for each day's cutting, and it is an offense to 
go outside of that limit, but within the limit every one is 
allowed to go where he pleases. When fifteen or 
twenty persons are allowed to scramble as they please, 
the trees are agitated as by a whirlwind passing over 
them and in less than forty minutes the best sticks are 
cut and appropriated. Then systematic work begins. 
Every stick is then tested before cutting, and, if the 
wood is in a fair condition for peeling, it will take 
about two hours to finish a plat of 484 square feet. 
There are four such plats to an acre. They yield from 
twenty-eight to forty-eight pounds each. When called 
off, no one is allowed to cut another stick. ( See illus- 
tration. ) 

As long as the seed is on the bushes, which is nearly 
till the end of the year, the sticks carrying them do not 
peel, owing possibly to the growth being checked and 
with it the free flow of sap in the effort to mature the 
seed. If, therefore, this seed is allowed to remain 

[ 92 ] 




'^'^'^^.-m 



CUTTING CINNAMON 



great loss results, as by the time the seed-bearmg bushes 
are peelable they will have grown so much as to yield 
coarse bark, fit only to quill coarse cinnamon, or not fit 
to be quilled at all. To avoid this loss the seed is 
stripped from the limb, when it will peel in its proper 
time. A plantation should not be expected to bring 
large returns for eight or nine years. 

After the crop, which is taken from four to six inches 
above ground, has been cut, the stumps should be 
covered with fresh earth gathered from the space 
between the rows and formed into a heap around the 
base. Sometimes a fire is made on the old stump. The 
next year two or three times as large a crop may be 
gathered, and so on year after year, until at length the 
bushes will become so thick as to admit only the weeders 
and peelers. The only manure required is the weeds, 
which three or four times a year are placed between the 
rows and covered with earth. When the shoots are har- 
vested from old stumps, they should be cut with one 
stroke of the heavy knife, in order to avoid splitting the 
stems. As the cutting takes place twice each year, there 
is a succession of young wood of different ages on the 
tree. 

The branches are cut off from three to five feet long 
when tipped at the ends by means of a long knife in 
shape of a hook or sickle (catty) . The shoots, after 
they have been cut and the tops have been removed, are 
tied into bundles and carried to the " wadi or peeling 
shed," where they are allowed to sweat for the preparation 
of the bark. The leaves, side branches, and outer bark 
are next removed from the shoots. The peeler (Chali- 
yas, Sinhalese caste of cinnamon peelers), sits on 
the ground beside his bundle and with his left 
hand cuts the inner bark in two pieces (and some- 
times three if very heavy and thick), longitudinal slits 
the entire length of the stick. It is then easily removed 
by means of a peeling knife (mama), which is round- 
pointed and has a projecting point on one side for rip- 
ping and running beneath the bark and lifting it about 
one-half inch on both sides. The bark will usually come 
off in halves eight to nine inches wide. The assortment 

[ 93 ] 



is I nude at the same time. The eoarse peelable bark is 
lor coarse eimiamon, aiul that which is not peelable goes 
as chips. 11' the bark adlieres firmly, the separation is 
facilitated by i'rictioii witli tlie liandle ol" the knife 
rubbed dextrously down it or with some smooth, hard 
piece of wood of convenient length. 

Wlien tlie day's work is finished the assorted bark is 
piled in a small enclosure made l)y sticks driven in the 
ground and is covered with the day's scra])ings and 
witli a mat. This treatment is called " fermenting, " 
but it is ratlier to hold the moisture and soften the bark 
for the next operation. After remaining twenty-four 
hours, or on the morning of the second day, tliree sticks 
are driven into tlie ground at such an angle that they 
will cross each other about one foot high. They are tied 
finnly at the point of crossing and are used for support- 
ing the end of a fourth stick, the other end of which 
rests upon the ground. 15efore this support the native 
sits upon the ground and taking a strip of the bark 
]>laces it on the stick and holds the up])er end firm with 
his foot. Then with a small curved knife, having a 
slightly serrated edge, lie scrapes off the cuticle, for if 
any remains it will create a bitterness. (See illustra- 
tion.) While it is yet moist with sap, it is placed with con- 
cave side downward to dry and it then contracts and 
curls into tubes or quills. The pipe maker, as he is 
called, is furnished with a board about one yard in length, 
a measuring stick, and a pair of scissors, lie takes a 
liundle of the ])repared sticks and sorts them into three 
or four grades, according to (piality. Sli])s for the 
outer covering are then selected, the ends being cut 
st^uare with the scissors. Placing this on the boards, he 
proceeds to pack within it as many of the smaller pieces 
(see illustration) as it will close over when dry, which is 
called piping. When the day's work is finished the 
pipes are arranged on ])arallel lines stretched across the 
shed. They are then placed on hurdles covered with 
mats to dry in the sunshine until firm enough for hand- 
ling. Afterv/ards, if necessary, the outer edges are 
pressed in and the ends are dressed and they are tied 
into bundles of about thirty pounds each. Three bun- 

[ 94 ] 




CUTTING ANIJ Q(JIMJN(; f;iNNAMON 




1.1. !.]..'< n..i.i './' 1I.1.I..1/ < I . . ;■. A.ViOiS' 



dies are tied together to form a bale. This bale is 
covered with canvas. In this form the product is put 
on the market ready for export, where it appears in 
long brittle sticks of a pale yellow-brown color or white 
to lightish yellow ( Fig. 1 ) . The best grade is nearly as 
thin as paper, not being more than one-eighth to one- 
sixteenth of an inch in thickness. It has a very delicate 
flavor and is very superior in aroma and strength to 
the ordinary Chinese variety. It lacks the strength of 
Saigon, however, and is seldom called for except for 
medicinal use, for which in many cases it is highly valu- 
able. A well-made cinnamon pipe, as it is called, will 
be of uniform thickness and quality; the edges will be 
neatly joined and in a straight line from end to end 
with the appearance of a tight roll of paper, which will 
feel firm under pressure of the thumb and finger, and 
the size of the pipes will vary according to the quality of 
the spice. In the finer sorts there are from fifteen to 
twenty-four pipes to the pound. In the next grade 
there are from ten to twelve. The coarser are stuck 
together without regard to appearance. In Ceylon the 
yield is about 150 pounds per acre, but on good soil and 
with careful tillage and manuring larger returns are ob- 
tained. 

Following the Ceylon in value are the Saigon, Java, 
and Batavia and China. The Saigon (Fig. 5) comes 
from Cochin China, taking its name from the city of 
Saigon. (See illustration.) The thinner-quilled Saigon 
bark, which is from selected twigs and smaller branches, 
is known as Java (Fig. 4). It has a very dark color 
and possesses an aroma and strength superior to these 
qualities in the Saigon. 

The Java is sold chiefly in the whole state (the outer 
rind is never removed) and in a variety of packages 
known as piculs, containing 135 pounds each, mostly 
in cases, sometimes valued higher than Ceylon. The 
Tellicherry and Malabar are from Bombay and the 
province of Malabar. The Tellicherry is equal to the 
Ceylon in appearance, but the interior surface is more 
fibrous and the flavor is inferior and the bark thicker. 
It is superior to the Malabar, which is the true cinnamon 

[ 95 ] 



introduced into India by the English. The Malabar 
contains nearly all the qualities of the Ceylon, but is 
paler in color with a feeble and less permanent odor. The 
sticks after piping are in length equal to those of the 
Ceylon, but the bark is shorter and the length of the 
stick is due to the method of telescoping the sticks of 
bark into one another. Batavia bark (Fig. 2) has a 
pale straw color and is a heavy bark superior to China 
Cassia Lignea (Fig. 3). It is exported in rolls of 
about fifty pounds each. 

The bark of the larger or coarser shoots cannot be 
quilled and is removed in thick pieces. When mixed 
with the bark of the prunings and with those sticks 
which do not peel well it is known as chips. It brings 
a low price on the market and is used for grinding ; and, 
although it does not have the delicate flavor of the 
quilled, what is lacking in delicacy is made up in pun- 
gency and, therefore, in many cases, it is preferred. 
Chips bring so low a price in the market that they may 
be purchased by the miller of spices and sold in the pure 
powdered state at a price much below what he can sell the 
bark at. This fact may account in a measure for prices 
given in the table in chapter II, page 7, on adulteration. 

The exporting of cinnamon chips is carried on by the 
planters to a great extent and at a great detriment to 
themselves. By doing this there is shortsightedness on 
their part, as the chips are bought by the miller at a low 
price in place of the high-priced bark, which necessarily 
must partly go begging for a market. Thus, the more 
valuable product so depreciates as to leave but little 
profit for the grower; his margin of profit is so small 
that he does not give his cinnamon grove proper atten- 
tion and many times cuts it for wood. If the planter 
would distill his waste pruning and coarse chips for the 
oil which they contain he would be well paid for his 
labor. 

The cultivators of cinnamon give employment to a 
large number of people, several thousand being now en- 
gaged in the cultivation of the trees and the prepara- 
tion of the bark. The pruning immediately follows the 
cutting and consists in cutting out all wood of more than 

[ 96 ] 




BATAVIA 




SAIGON 



two years' grow 111 jukI reducing all slumps left Loo iiigh 
and reJiioviiig all weak and eiooked siiools and super- 
fluous branches. This waste material, with tlie weed- 
ing, is l)urie(l near the outer roots, as it is found tliat 
organic matter is an excellent I'ertili'/A'r i'or eimiamon, 
as the shoots reach out in all directions and permeate 
the decaying matter and so bring much bcn(;fil, to the 
tree. Jt will not do to raise a mound around the base 
of the trunk, as tlie roots are thereby forced against 
their natural course and throw themselves into the 
mound. When this is once done Lhcy must l)e allowed 
to remain, as any disturbance would injure the tree. 
When the Ceylon cinnamon tr(;e bi-comcs too old to pro- 
duce good growth it is (!ut down and the baik removed 
from tlie larger l)ranches and the trunk, and is called 
mate cinnamon. 

Although the finest bark is obtained from the culti- 
vated trees there is much bark obtained from the unculti- 
vated, of which C. multiflorum and ('. ovalu folium are 
used for j>ui'j)oses of adulteration. 

Cassia bark (I'ig. •i), I^'rench cassia and (ierman 
cassia, are the dried bark of a tree which grows twenty 
to forty feet high, sometimes even sixty feet high, 
irregular and knotty, willi large spreading hori/ontal 
branches, outer liark thick, rough and scabrous, with ash 
color, si)e(?kled inner bark reddish with dark green and 
light orange color. Jt is known to commerce as cassia 
lignea or China cinnamon, and is from the C'inna- 
momum aromaticum. It is found in South China and 
is a native of Ceylon, Co(;liin (!hina, l^ast India, and 
Java, and has been brought from C'hina since the earliest 
days of history. It is produced by an undescribed tree 
of several species of einnamomum, diifering fVo/ri each 
other in foliage and in inflorescence and aromatic prop- 
erties, and has about as many names in Chinese as there 
are provinces in which it is found growing. It is found 
most abundantly in the province of Kwangsi in the south 
of China, large (juantities })eirig })rought to Canton 
annually from " Kwei lin r'oo " (literally the C'ity of 
the Forest of Cassia Trees), deriving its name from 
the forests of cassia around it, and is the capital and 

[ 97 ] 



principal city of the province. The exact botanical 
source of China Cassia lignea was not known until 
1884, although it was generally attributed to the tree 
now proved to yield it ( Cinnamomum cassia). It is 
cultivated in the three following districts of China: 
Taiwu, Kwangsi province, and Lukpo and Loting, 
both in Kwang-tung province. Taiwu is about 180 
miles west of Canton and from four to five miles from 
the West River, but the nearest cassia plantations are 
from twenty-five to thirty miles farther, in a southern 
or southwestern direction. The Loting district com- 
mences from eight to ten miles from Loting City. 
After leaving the West River about eighty miles of the 
Loting River and the Nam-Kong must be traversed 
before reaching the city, and from there the distance 
is made overland. In these plantations there are 52,600 
acres which have been under cultivation for about forty 
years. Lukpo is least important. The city of Lukpo 
is situated on the northern bank of the West River. 
The nearest plantation is about fifteen miles distant 
from Lukpo City. 

Cassia is also found in the following provinces: 
Hunan, Shensi, Hupeh, and Eonsu, and under the fol- 
lowing Chinese names: Yuk-quai-she, Toro-Tsao, 
Chu-eh or Tsao, Chu-eh, Eh-Ming or Chueh Mings; 
for drugs — fungus, Huei-hua, Mu-erh. The Chinese 
have varieties which they cultivate under special cir- 
cumstances, almost sacred, and by their long familiarity 
with different kinds and their expertness in determin- 
ing its value they use it in many ways of which we are 
ignorant. The thick bark of the old uncultivated trees 
found growing near the Annam frontier is very highly 
valued by the Chinese on account of its supposed medici- 
nal purposes, especially a dark bark called Ching Fa 
Kwei from the trees growing on the Ching Fa Moun- 
tains in Annam. The bark is stripped from the lim.bs 
as are the other grades of cinnamon. It is only about 
sixteen inches in length, has a dark-brown color and dull 
flavor, is not so sweet as true cinnamon and has a bitter 
taste. The bark is thick and heavy and not uniform in 
size. It is not enclosed or quilled and is brittle, with 

[ 98 ] 



a less fibrous texture. It is less pungent and has a 
more mucilaginous or gelatinous quality. The outer, 
corky bark is of a deeper color and is the kind mixed 
with much coarser bark, known as " Cassia Vera," which 
is ground by our spice grinders in place of the true cin- 
namon. This bark is imported in mats of from three to 
four pounds each, bound up in bamboo splints, and is 
shipped in bales of about eighty pounds. 

Inferior cinnamon trees are found scattered over a 
large tract of country in the Indian Archipelago, C. 
Tamala Nees, and Ebern, extending into Silhet, Sik- 
kin, Nepaul, Kumaon, and even into Australia. There 
are two species of Archipelago C, Cassia Blume and C. 
Burmanii Blume, the last being a Chinese variety found 
growing in Sumatra and Java, and the Philippines 
furnish " Cassia Vera." Several other cassia Cinga- 
lese species of cinnamon cassia bark are found in their 
respective localities. 

In the Khasia Mountains of East Bengal there is the 
bark of Abtusifolium Nees, and C. Pauciflorum Nees, 
and C. Tamala Nees, and Eberm found growing at 
1,000 to 4,000 feet elevations, shipped from Calcutta. 

Cinnarnomum iners reinw is a kind found in India, 
Ceylon, Java, and Sumatra, and other islands in a vari- 
able state and has a paler and thinner and different 
veined leaf than the true cinnamon. Young branches 
of the tree are collected and tied up in fagots constitut- 
ing cassia twigs, which form a large article of com- 
merce. 

In order to powder cinnamon bark, it must first be 
passed through a cracker machine, as it is called, to 
reduce it to a proper size for feeding in a mill. The 
mill consists of a roller provided with very coarse teeth, 
which revolve through similar stationary teeth. The 
material is retained by a semi-circular, perforated plate, 
until it is reduced to the size of the perforation, or 
about the size of a coffee bean, when it is then ready 
for the burr stones. 

True ground cinnamon (see Figs. 22 and 23, Chap. 
Ill) consists of long cells of woody fiber which repre- 
sent the thin layers found in the bark and scattered 

[99 ] 



through it, consisting of a little starch in stellate cells. 
There is nothing more distinct between cinnamon and 
cassia than the amount of volatile oil the bark con- 
tains, and yet some of the inferior cinnamon bark does 
not contain as much volatile oil as does good cassia, but 
cimiamon oil is of a much higher and more delicate 
aroma. It is hard to detect cassia (see Fig. 41, Chap. 
Ill; adulterated, Fig. 46) in ground cinnamon, as the 
flavor is so similar, but the cassia contains but little 
wood fiber and few stellate cells and the presence of 
starch is more marked. To test cinnamon, experts 
are required. The usual test is by chewing, but this 
method soon makes the mouth sore. The most inferior 
ground cassia, however, bears such a close resemblance 
to the best cassia and to the true cinnamon that it may 
be substituted for it or used as an adulterant without 
being easily detected. The following instructions are 
useful in examining powdered cinnamon. 

Make a decoction of pure ground cinnamon, also 
a decoction of the suspected mixture, and filter both; 
when cold add to thirty grams of each one or two drops 
of iodine, when the decoction of pure cinnamon will be 
but slightly afi*ected while the mixture will assume a 
blackish-blue coloration. Although much depends 
upon the age of the oils, the greater the age of the oil 
the smaller the quantity of iodine solution absorbed by 
it. The cheap sort of cassia, or " Cassia Vera," can be 
distinguished from China cassia and from true cinna- 
mon by its richness in mucilage, which can be extracted 
by cold water as a thick glary liquid, which on the addi- 
tion of corrosive sublimate or neutral acetate of lead 
yields a dense viscous precipitate. The most reliable 
test for cassia in true cinnamon is to obtain the pro- 
portion of ash in each, the ash in cinnamon being 4.59 
and 4.78 per cent., cassia lignea giving but 1.84 and 
" Cassia Vera " nearly the same as cinnamon, 4.08. 
Another test is to ascertain the amount of ash soluble 
in water. The quantities are 25.04, 28.98 per cent, in 
whole cinnamon, about 18 per cent, in chips, and 8.15 
in " Cajssia Vera," and 26.40 in cassia lignea. Again 
the proportion of oxide of manganese is never more 

[ 100 ] 



than 1 per cent. (0.13-0.97) in cinnamon, but it is over 
(1.13 - 1.53) in " Cassia Vera " and 3.65 - 5.11 in cassia 
lignea. The cinnamon ash will always be found white 
or nearly so, while both the cassia ashes are gray or 
brown and yield an abundance of chlorine on heating 
with hydrochloric acid. The cinnamon or cassia in the 
bark is easily distinguished, as the inferior kinds are 
thicker and appearance coarser and their color darker 
brown and duller and have a more pungent taste, which 
is less sweet than the true cinnamon, succeeded by a 
bitter taste. 

The Ceylon bark is characterized by being cut 
obliquely at the bottom of the quill while other kinds 
are cut transversely. Ground cinnamon will deterio- 
rate very rapidly. Cinnamon is so singularly sensitive 
in the bark that great care has to be taken in regard to 
its surroundings in shipping aboard vessels to prevent 
loss. Recourse has been made to various expedients, 
but it is found that the only effective safeguard is to 
pack bags of pepper between the bales. Ceylon alone 
exports 6,000 pounds of bark to this country annually 
in gunny bags of about 100 pounds each. Colombo 
(see illustration) , which has one of the largest botanical 
gardens and the largest cinnamon grove in the world, 
is the principal city of export. 

Cassia Buds (flores cassias immature clavelli cinna- 
momi) are the calyces of the immature flowers of the 
cassia tree which yields cassia lignea. The cassia buds 
of commerce bear a resemblance to cloves but are 
smaller and have the odor and flavor of cassia lignea or 
cinnamon. They are gathered in an unripe state at 
about one- fourth their normal size and are exported 
from Canton in piculs of 150 pounds each. Can- 
ton exported about 100,000 pounds in the first quarter 
of 1905, and Canton exports 19,000 piculs of cassia cin- 
namon of 133 pounds each and 500 piculs of twigs annu- 
ally, and it is the principal city of export in the world 
for cassia barks. In Southern India the cassia buds 
are gathered from a variety of wild Cinnamomum iners 
reinw in a mature state, but they are inferior to the 
Chinese cassia buds. They have the appearance of 

[ 101 ] 



nails with roundish heads of various sizes, and if com- 
pletely dried the receptacle is nearly dark, firmly em- 
bracing the embryo seed, which protrudes. 

Seeds which are used for seeding are obtained from 
trees ten years old and upward, which are not cut back 
but are allowed to grow naturally from fifty to sixty 
feet apart, while the balance of the orchard is cut down 
every six years for the bark. The seed trees are cut 
only in cases of necessity to supply a great demand for 
the thick bark on the trunks, when some can be sacri- 
ficed. 

The Cliinese frequently adulterate the oil of cassia 
with colophony, which may be easily detected, as it has 
a greater specific gravity. Extra pale colophony has 
a specific gravity of 1.070 and the pale colophony has 
a specific gravity of 1.110. Any oil heavier than 1.070 
should be handled with suspicion. The darker the 
sample and the higher the specific gravity, the greater 
the adulteration. The tips of the branches and the 
other trimming which collects are carefully dried and 
distilled and sold as cinnamon oil. 

Oil of cinnamon or cassia depends entirely upon the 
amount of cinnamyl aldehyde it contains. Oil of the true 
cinnamon bark (cinnamomum Zeylonicum) is the finest 
essential oil to be had. It is worth $5 per pound, while 
common cassia is worth only about seventy cents. True 
cinnamon oil is obtained in Ceylon and is of a golden 
color when fresh, with an aromatic odor, and is very 
pungent, being powerful enough to blister the tongue, 
but varies by age from cherry to yellow-red, the paler 
varieties being the most esteemed. Cinnamon leaf is 
redistilled in London to obtain the desired color, 
although at a loss of about 10 per cent, (formula 
C10H14), with a small quantity of benzoic acid. Fine 
cinnamon oil has a taste of intense sweetness, far 
sweeter than sugar, and a clove-like taste is at first de- 
veloped. It is largely used in perfumery and medicine. 
Ceylon ships about 15,000 to 40,000 ounces annually. 
China exports as much. After a time it loses its 
sweetness and is no better than cassia oil. The tree 
yields essential oils from the leaves, bark, and root, each 

[ 102 ] 



oil differing in composition and value, which accounts 
for the many different grades or prices for cinnamon 
oil found on the market. Cinnamon and cassia oils are 
of the same chemical compositions, their value being 
estimated by the amount of cinnamyl aldehyde they 
contain. That obtained from the roots is light, while 
that obtained from the leaves is so heavy as to sink in 
water. 

There is but a small amount of oil in the bark, the 
yield being but 1 to 1.5 per cent.; six and one-half 
ounces of heavy oil and two and one-half ounces of light 
oil to eighty pounds of bark. It consists chiefly of cin- 
namyl aldehyde or the hydride of cinnamyl and a vari- 
able quantity of hydrocarbon. The oil derived from 
the coarser bark is a dark-brownish color. The oil dis- 
tilled from the true bark is worth about eighteen times 
as much as the oil distilled from the leaves or leaf stalk 
or flower stalk. The latter oil is chiefly of eugenol, 
a hydrocarbon having an odor of cymene, a little 
benzoic acid and cinnamyl aldehyde. When mixed w ith 
the young twigs and cassia buds of cassia shrubs, this 
oil becomes a beautiful bright oil of excellent taste — 
characteristics which denote a higher percentage of alde- 
hyde. Twigs show a familiar sweet cinnamon taste, 
but they yield a sm^aller percentage of essential oil than 
is distilled from the leaves, and has a specific gravity 
of 1.45 at 15 degrees C, showing 90 per cent, of alde- 
hyde. The leaves yield sweet oil at 15 degrees C, spe- 
cific gravity 1.056, aldehyde 93. Cassia buds yield 
essential oil 1.550 per cent., specific gravity 1.026, alde- 
hyde 80.4 per cent. Stalk of cassia leaves, leaf stalk, 
and young twigs mixed yield essential oil 0.77 per cent., 
gravity 1.055, aldehyde 93 per cent. 

The oil from the root contains cinnamyl aldehyde, 
hydrocarbon and ordinary camphor, and is lighter than 
water, both the oil of the bark and of the leaves being 
heavier. Oil from cinnamon bark and shoots is seldom 
exported. The oil is obtained in Ceylon by macerating 
the powdered bark or roots with a saturated solution of 
common salt for two days, after which the whole is dis- 
tilled. 

[ 103 ] 



Cinnamyl aldehyde, which is a very pleasant smelling 
colorless liquid, may be separated from hydrocarbon, 
which is also found in the oil, by bringing the oil in 
contact with concentrated nitric acid. The crystals, 
which separate in long rhombic prisms or small 
plates, are decomposed by water into nitric acid. Free 
cinnamyl aldehyde may be prepared by allowing a mix- 
ture of ten parts benzolaldehyde, fifteen parts acet- 
aldehyde, 900 parts of water, and ten parts of a 10 per 
cent, solution of caustic soda to stand eight or ten days, 
at a temperature of 30 degrees, the whole being fre- 
quently agitated. Finally the aldehyde is extracted by 
means of ether. 

The pure Chinese cassia lignea bark, essential oil 
1.5 per cent., has a specific gravity of about 1.035 to 
1.060; aldehyde, 89.9 per cent., and at 15 C. should 
have a specific gravity of 1.050 to 1.070. On distilling, 
about 90 per cent, of pure cassia oil should pass over, 
and the balance, 10 per cent, residue, must not become 
solid in cooling, must not be brittle but must be in a 
semifluid state. If the oil contains less than 70 per 
cent, of cinnamyl aldehydes it may be considered adul- 
terated, and at 75 per cent, should be handled with 
suspicion. 

14 to 9 years old, 79 per cent. Cinnamyl aldehyde 

15 years old, . . 70 per cent. Cinnamyl aldehyde 

16 years old, . . 73 per cent. Cinnamyl aldehyde 

Cinnamic acid occurs in the flowers of cinnamon 
and forms in small quantities by oxidation of the cinna- 
myl aldehyde when it comes in contact with the open air. 
It will dissolve in 3,500 parts of water at 17 degrees 
and is more readily soluble in boiling water and crys- 
tallizes from it in lustrous plates. From the cassia 
buds, refuse bark, young shoots and roots a fragrant 
volatile substance is obtained which floats on water, 
and when removed and allowed to cool, it becomes a 
suet, giving a delicious odor in burning, called a cinna- 
mon suet, or wax, which is used largely by the Catholics 
and Buddhists in worship and at high native weddings. 
It was formerly used in Ceylon for making candles. 

When true ground cinnamon and cassias are ex- 

[ 104 ] 



amined microscopically with polarized light, differences 
are revealed at once which are characteristic enough to 
distinguish the specimens, as shown in Figs. 41 and 23, 
Chap. III. But of the proximate chemical composi- 
tion of any of the barks but little is known. Numerous 
determinations and analyses of the ash have been made 
with a view to detecting peculiarities or the addition of 
mineral matter. The percentage of ash is extremely 
variable, depending on the age and quality of the bark. 
Saigon chips have been known to have 8.23 per cent., 
while unknown cassia bark has been found with but 
1.75 per cent. Cinnamon bark will be likely to average 
less than cassia. Fiber-like ash is very variable, Saigon 
yielding 26.29 per cent., true cinnamon 33.08 per cent., 
while unknown cassia gives 14.20; that containing the 
least fiber contains the smallest amount of lime. 

The albuminoids are also variable; the Batavia and 
Saigon barks appear to contain the most. The pres- 
ence of over 4 per cent, is an indication of an inferior 
quality. 

The amount of the tannin runs extremely small, any 
addition of which can be readily detected. One-fourth 
of the ash of cinnamon is soluble in water, but 
less of " Cassia Vera," and less yet of cassia 
lignea. Little has been learned which would form 
a sound basis for distinguishing these barks. The pres- 
ence of manganese cannot be considered as indicating 
that substance an essential element of the ash, nor 
is the fact one from which such definite conclusions 
could be drawn as to serve as the basis of legal testi- 
mony, but it is what gives to the different barks their 
different colors. True cinnamon contains less than 1 
per cent, of oxide of manganese; " Cassia Vera " more 
than 1 per cent., and cassia lignea as high as 5 per cent. 

The essential oil is but 0.5 to 1 per cent, of the bark 
of cinnamon and much less in inferior cassia. 

We also find the presence of mucilage, coloring mat- 
ter, resin, acid, starch, and lignea as well as volatile oil. 
Aside from the determination of volatile oil upon which 
the properties of cassia bark depends, chemical analysis 
seems to be of little value; the principal dependence 

[ 105 ] 



must, with our present knowledge, be placed on the 
mechanical and microscopic examination. 

To detect the adulteration of oil of cassia by oil of 
cloves, a drop of the oil should be heated on a watch 
glass. Genuine cassia evolves a fragrant vapor pos- 
sessing but a little acridity. When, however, clove oil 
is present, the vapor is very acrid and excites coughing. 
With fuming nitric acid, cassia merely crystallizes; but 
if cloves be present it swells up, evolves a large quantity 
of red vapor and yields a thick reddish-brown oil. Pure 
cassia oil solidifies with concentrated potash but will not 
when mixed with clove oil. 

A good test for cassia oil substituted for oil of cin- 
namon is to add nitric acid, specific gravity 1.36, to 
oil of cinnamon (one part of the latter to two parts of 
acid) , and shake the mixture. A bright orange-colored 
liquid is first obtained, upon the surface of which floats 
an orange, resinous substance, slowly becoming deeper 
in color, until a beautiful cherry-red color is visible, by 
which time it has changed to a liquid that floats on a 
lighter-colored substratum, which also in a short time 
becomes nearly of the same tint. Bubbles then com- 
mence to appear and shortly afterwards spontaneous 
ebullition occurs, with the evolution of nitrous fumes 
and vapors of benzoic aldehyde. By the time this 
ebullition has ceased the amber-colored liquid com- 
mences to clear itself and finally a clear amber liquid is 
left with orange globules floating on its surface. Upon 
oil of cassia, nitric acid, specific gravity 1.36, has a 
different action, as, after mixing one part of oil of cas- 
sia with two of nitric acid, a dirty green supernatant 
resinous mass (slowly turning brown) is seen floating 
on a yellowish liquid, and no further change takes place. 
If a large excess of the acid be added after the first 
addition, the resinous mass changes to a deep reddish 
brown and the subnascent liquid takes a cherry-red 
color. The same reaction occurs if a large excess of 
nitric acid be added to oil of cassia at first, but in 
neither of these cases is there any spontaneous ebulli- 
tion or evolution of the nitrous fumes and benzoic alde- 
hyde vapors. 

[ 106 ] 



If oil of cassia be mixed with oil of cinnamon, the 
reaction with nitric acid takes place as with oil of cinna- 
mon, but more tardily, according to the amount of cas- 
sia oil present; and, at the end of the process, a turbid 
subnascent liquid is seen, instead of a clear one, as is 
the case with pure oil of cinnamon. Spirits of nitrous 
ether can also be used to distinguish between these oils, 
as it forms a clear solution with that of cinnamon, but 
a turbid one with cassia. 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF CASSIA AND CINNAMON 

Samples examined, ash of the whole being about 8 per 
cent, and powdered 5 per cent. : 

Ash Saigon, 8.23 

Unknown Cassia, 1.75, extreme 

Fiber Saigon, 26.29 

Fiber of Cassia Cinnamon, 14 to 20, extreme 

Fiber True Cinnamon, 33.08 

Albuminoids Saigon, 4.55 

Albuminoids Unknown Cassia, 2.45, extreme 

Lime True Cinnamon, . . 40.09, 36.98, 40.39, in three specimens 

Lime Cassia Lignea, 25.29 

Lime Cassia Vera," 52.72 

Magnesia, True Cinnamon, . . 2.65, 3.30, 3.86, in three specimens 

Magnesia, Cassia Lignea, 5.48 

Magnesia, Cassia Vera," 1.10 



[ 107 ] 



CHAPTER X 

CLOVES 

Your unexpanded flower-buds fair 

Hold for us flavors fine and rare, 

Welcome your petals in our home, 

'Though Nature choose you should not bloom. 

CLOVES are the unexpanded flower buds of 
Eugenia Caryophyllata of Caryophyllus-aro- 
maticus, a tree belonging to the natural order 
Myrtacca, and are named from the French word clou, 
signifying nail, which it sometimes resembles. 

The French word, Girofle Cloux de Girofle; Ger- 
man, Gewurzuelken; Persian, Meykuk; Sanskrit, 
Lavunga; Arabia, Kerunful; Bengalle, Lung; Malay, 
Chankee, Lawang; Portuguese, Cravos da India; 
Chinese, Thenghio; Java, Wohkayu, Lawang; Hindoo, 
Laung. 

It is indigenous to the Molucca or, as they are fre- 
quently called, the " Spice Islands." It was originally 
confined to five of these islands, viz: Tidor, Ternate, 
Motir, Batian, and Kian, but chiefly to the last. 
These constitute a string of islands westward of 
the large island Gilalo and, strange to say, the clove 
tree does not appear to do well on the large islands, 
such as Gilalo and Ceram and Celebes. It is probable 
that Booro and the Xula Isles constitute about the 
western limit of the successful culture of the clove. 
Although it is a native of small islands, it will not do 
well too near the sea where it receives much moisture, or 
at a high elevation where it is cold. Sloping loam land 
is best, where there is no stagnant water, 1,000 feet ele- 
vation being the limit. 

The clove tree is found outside the Moluccas and Am- 
boina, Haruka, Saparua, and Naesalaut in the follow- 
ing places: Guiana, Zanzibar, Pemba, Java, Sumatra, 
Reunion, and West Indies islands. 

[ 108 ] 




CLOVES 

(Eugenia Coryaphyllata of Coryaphyllas Aroniaticas) 

1 Zanzibar . 4 Benconlen 

2 Amboyna 5 Calyx 

3 Penang 6 Calyx 

7 FlowerinK stem with leaves 



There are five varieties of cloves as follows : 

1. The ordinary cultivated clove. 

2. The female clove with pale stem, which natives 
call poleng. 

3. The keriak or leory cloves. 

4. The royal clove (which is very scarce) . 

5. The wild clove. 

The first three are about equally valuable as spices, 
the female being considered best for distillation of 
essential oil, while the wild clove has very little aromatic 
flavor and no value but for adulteration. 

The royal clove is a curious monstrosity, which for- 
merly had a great reputation as the Caryophyllum 
regium, by reason of its rarity, and the curious observa- 
tions which are made respecting it. It is a very small clove 
and is distinguished by an abnormal number of sepals 
and by large bracts at the base of the tubes of the calyx. 
The corolla and internal organs are imperfectly devel- 
oped. In commerce the cloves are known and named 
from the places of growth and are graded in value in 
the order named — Penang (Fig. 3), Bencoolen (Fig. 
4), Amboina (Fig. 2), Zanzibar (Fig. 1). They do 
not exhibit any very decided structural difference, but 
it takes 4,500 Penang cloves to weigh one pound and 
5,000 Zanzibar for same weight. There also enters 
into commerce as a secondary product clove stalks and 
mother's cloves, the latter being the dried ripe fruit. 

Cloves were one of the principal Oriental spices, being 
the basis of a rich trade from an early part of the Chris- 
tian era, and the spice was well known to the ancients 
and certainly formed an article of commerce, during the 
Middle Ages, when Alleppo was the grand mart of 
Eastern trade. 

The Portuguese discovered cloves growing abun- 
dantly on the Molucca Islands about the year 1600 and 
they held possession of the principal clove trade for 
nearly a century. Previous to this time, cloves were 
brought to Europe from ports in the Mediterranean, 
where they had been brought by Arabians, Persians, 
and Egyptians. 

About 1605, the Portuguese were driven from the 

[ 109 ] 



Moluccas by the Dutch, who endeavored to control the 
clove trade by attempting to extirpate all the clove trees 
growing in their native islands, and to confine the cul- 
ture of the entire production to the islands of Amboina 
and Ternate, paying the kings of the islands of Ter- 
nate, Tidor, and Batian a tribute to permit and assist 
in the extirpation of the trees. 

In the years 1769 and 1771, the French, under M. 
Poivre, made two expeditions to the Moluccas and found 
the clove tree growing in some small islands which had 
been overlooked by the Dutch. From one of these 
(Guebi) they obtained plants and transplanted them to 
the Isle of France. In 1785, there were already between 
10,000 and 11,000 clove trees growing in this island. 

At the end of ihe seventeenth century, an Arab carried 
the clove seed from Baurbou and planted the plantation 
in Zanzibar at Miltoni, on the road to Cheuni, and plants 
were conveyed from the Isle of France to Cayenne, 
Dominica, and to Mauritius. About 1770, the English 
put such a high duty on spices in Dominica that they 
ruined the trade there, and although M. Buee planted 
the clove tree there over 100 years ago, one tree is yet 
living. 

Meanwhile the Dutch, who favored the one principal 
isle, Amboina, selecting that part of it called Leytimeer 
and the adjoining Uliasser Islands, divided /lanboina 
into 4,000 allotments. Each of these divisions was 
expected to afford sufficient space for the growth of 125 
trees, and it was ordered that this number should be 
cultivated. 

In 1720, a law was passed rendering it compulsory on 
the natives to make up the full complement, and accord- 
ingly 500,000 clove trees flourished within the limit of 
the small island, their annual aggregate product amount- 
ing to more than 1,000,000 pounds of cloves. One can 
scarcely imagine the beauty of these immense groves 
with their pinkish-white, snowdrop blossoms, the sweet 
perfumes of which are carried by the gentle breezes far 
out to sea. 

The clove tree, owing to its noble height, fine form, 
and luxuriant foliage, is attractive in appearance. Its 

[ no ] 



bark is thin and smooth and its wood exceedingly hard, 
but it has a grayish color, which unfits it for cabinet 
work. It is an evergreen and in its natural state grows 
to a height of from thirty to forty feet, with a straight 
trunk, making it the most beautiful of all known trees. 
When four feet high, the tree spreads into several 
branches with fork stems, on which leaves grow directly 
opposite each other. The leaves are long, ovate and 
smooth, narrow and indented on the edge, pointed and 
of a thick consistency. The color of the upper surface 
inclines to red, as also does the stalk, while the under 
surface is green. The entire tree is strongly aromatic 
and the petioles of the leaves have nearly the same pun- 
gency as the calyces of the flowers. 

In cultivating cloves, the mother cloves are best 
selected fresh, as they soon lose their vitality. The fruit 
seed (called by the natives paleny), which have become 
fertilized by remaining and ripening on the trees, are 
first soaked in water three days, or until they begin to 
germinate, and are next planted in a nursery of rich 
mold with bud end above ground in shaded beds, six 
inches apart if many plants are needed, twelve inches 
apart for few. 

Two seeds are planted in each hill in the trenches, to 
provide for the failure of a part of the seed to germi- 
nate, and care must be taken not to plant the seed more 
than two inches below the surface. The nursery beds 
are made about six feet wide and of any length desired, 
and are shaded by a flat framework of sticks three to 
three and one-half feet high, over which is placed grass 
or .cocoanut leaves. The ground is watered every morning 
and evening by taking water in the hand from the water- 
ing pot until the seeds have developed. When the plants 
appear above ground they are watered every other day, 
and when about six inches high every ten days. 

The plants are kept in the shaded beds for nine 
months or one year, when they will be about one foot 
high. After this they are gradually left to the expo- 
sure of the sun by removing the framework for one or 
two months, when they are transplanted. Great care 
is taken in moving the plants. The transplanting takes 

[ 111 ] 



place in the rainy season. The soil is first cut around 
the plant by a iaiife or triangular-shaped spade called 
" moaa," " jembe,' or hoe, and the plant is lifted with 
as much soil adhering to it as possible and is placed 
across two banana strips of fiber, which are three to four 
inches wide and one to two feet long. The four ends of 
these strips are wrapped around the plants and firmly 
tied together, and in that way the plants are carried to 
the place for planting. Before planting, the pieces of 
fiber are cut beneath at each corner and the plant is 
placed in holes dug for them, which are about thirty feet 
apart; the earth is heaped around them and the balance 
of the fiber at the top is removed. The plant is watered 
every day if it is very dry weather, and at intervals for 
a year, or until it is about eighteen inches high. 

A great many plants usually die out and continually 
replanting is necessary. For this reason, a nursery is 
kept for about five years. 

After the clove garden is planted there is no need 
of shading, but as the trees have only a slight hold in the 
ground, they are easily destroyed. They should be 
planted in sheltered situations. For example, a hurri- 
cane which visited Zanzibar in 1872 destroyed nine- 
tenths of the clove groves, but the adjoining island of 
Pemba did not suffer nearly so much, especially on the 
west side of the island, which was fairly well protected. 
For this reason the clove trees are protected by belted 
double rows of casuarina and cerbera trees. Cocoanut 
trees are also planted at irregular places among the clove 
trees. The slaves, who have their own small orchards, 
often plant cassava, cocoanut, and mangoes with the clove 
not only for shelter but to secure extra crops from the 
other trees. In Amboina the young trees are planted in 
old clove orchards for shelter, and when the young trees 
grow up the old trees are cut down. A clayey sub- 
stratum, dark yellow or volcanic earth, intermingled 
with gravel and dark loam, with a small amount of sand 
to reduce its tenacity, is the best soil. Marshy soil is fatal. 
Plants obtained from a garden of self-sown seeds are the 
best, but sometimes young branches are laid down and 
kept moist, when they will take root in about six months. 

[ 112 ] 



Clove trees after being well rooted require but little 
care, and as the clove tree attracts much moisture, little 
other herbage will grow beneath it, but they must be 
kept well weeded or the trees will run into wild cloves. 
New leaves form in the wet season in May, the old leaves 
dropping off as new ones come, and soon after the leaves 
are out the germ of fruit is discovered and the tree 
begins to bear. 

The clove tree needs no pruning with the exception of 
topping, and no manuring except by leaves which fall 
from the trees, which are very good fertilizers. 

The flowers are of a delicate pink color and grow at 
the extremity of the branches. There are from nine to 
fifteen flowers in a cluster. These clusters, or branched 
peduncles, are arranged in tricahatomous terminal 
cymes, jointed to the branches. The unexpanded 
corolla forms a ball on the top of the bud between four 
of the calyces. The calyx is elongated and to it the 
ovary is united. It tapers downward and is the cup of 
the unripe fruit seed, giving the seed the resemblance 
of the clove (garafa, which is no doubt a corruption of 
the French v/ord girofle) . 

As soon as the corolla begins to fade the calyx changes 
its color, first to yellow and green (Fig. 6) , and then to 
red (Fig. 5), and, together with the embryo seed, which 
is about the size of a small pea, is at this stage of its 
growth the clove of commerce and is ready for harvest- 
ing. If it is allowed to remain on the tree three weeks 
longer it will gradually swell, forming an oblong berry 
containing one or two cells and as many seeds. It is 
then ripe, and is known as the mother clove (by the 
native, paleng) . It has then lost the pungent property 
of the clove and w^ill have entirely lost its value as a 
spice, and is valuable only for seed. 

The clove, then, we find composed of two parts. The 
part we use is the flower clove. It is about six-tenths of 
an inch in length. It has a long cylindrical calyx, divid- 
ing above into four pointed spreading sepals, which sur- 
round four petals or leaves that are the unexpanded 
flowers. Thus the filaments are rolled into a globular bud 
or head of the clove, which is about two-tenth of an inch 

[ 113 ] 



in (liaineter. The parts may be seen by soaking the elove 
in water, when the leaves will sol'ten and unroll. 'I'he 
petals are of a light eolor on aeeount of their numerous 
oil cells, which spring from the base of a four-sided 
epigynous disc with angles directed towards the lobes 
of the calyx. The stamens are very numerous, being 
inserted at the base of the ])etals and arched over the 
style, which is short and sublate and rises from depres- 
sions in the center of the disc. Immediately below it, 
and united with the up|)er i)()rtion of the calyx, is the 
ovary, which is two-celled and contains niany ovules. 

The lower end of the calyx (hypanthium) has a com- 
pressed form, is solid, but has internal tissues which are 
far more i)()rous than the walls, the whole calyx being of 
a dee]), rich brown color. It has a dull, wrinkled sur- 
face and dense, fleshy texture, and abounds in essential 
oil which exudes on a simple ])ressure of the ling-er nail. 

The clove tree is not subject to any fungoid disease, 
but it suffers I'rom a caterpillar which often strips the 
leaves in dry weather, but the tree will soon recover after 
the rain sets in. The white ant also attacks the root. 
No remedy is undertaken for either of these pests. . A 
worm also insinuates itself into the wood and thousands 
of trees sometimes perish from its work. 

Harvesting should begin as, soon as the fruit is at thp 
pr()j)cr stage and should be rushed with as much haste 
as is possible, or much of the crp]) may be lost by over- 
rij)ening. As all buds do not mature at one time, it 
takes about three weeks to com])lete the harvest. 

Cloths are first s]>read on the gi'ound beneath the tree. 
The fruit must be ])icked mostly by hand. Although 
the twigs are easily broken, the harvesting is very tedi- 
ous. l\)ur-si(led ladders or movable stages are used 
for the lower limbs and seed ])oles for beating the fruit 
fiom the upper branches, M'hich cannot be reached from 
the bidders. The limbs of the tree are so brittle that 
great care must l)e taken hot to break them, lest the crop 
for the next year be injured. Boys and girls from ten 
to fourteen years old, are the best help for gathering 
the fruit. The clove and clove stems are both gathered 
at the same time, and are dried on mats to prevent fer- 

[ 114 1 




HARVESTING CLOVES 



mentation. Those which fall from the tree are dried 
in the sunshine. They have a shriveled appearance, dull 
color, little essential oil, and are of inferior value. The 
flowers are next dried, when they assume the hrown 
color of the clove. The finest cloves are dark-brown 
with a full, ])erfect head free from moisture. The 
inferior are smaller and poorer in essential oil. The 
drying process is usually by simple exposure to the sun 
for several days on mats, but in some places the flowers 
are smoked on hurdles covered with matting near a slow 
fire. In a few cases they have been scalded in hot water 
before smoking. After the drying process, they are 
ready for 2)acking, if they are brittle or readily break 
between the fingers. 

Cloves are now ex])orted in large amounts from Zan- 
zibar and its neighboring island Pemba, twenty miles 
distant. They are cultivated there by all classes, from 
the Sultan to the humblest of his subjects. Zanzibar 
cloves, being very dry, do not lose much in weight by 
drying and may be stored for some time and will not 
mold, but the Pemba production arrives in a damp 
condition and must be sold or milled at once to save loss 
from shortage. The Zanzibar cloves are larger than 
the Pemba variety and have a reddish head by which 
they may be known, while the dry Pemba cloves, by 
reason of the greater amount of moisture they contain, 
have a darker color. The Zanzibar cloves, being well 
cultivated, are very fine, but the Pemba, having more 
rains, have an advantage over the Zanzibar in quantity, 
but they are lacking in quality. Zanzibar Island is 
fifty miles long by twenty miles wide, and alone pro- 
duces 7,000,000 pounds of cloves annually, and Pemba 
a much larger quantity. Pemba is divided into two dis- 
tricts, Weti in the north and Chaki in the south. The 
two islands produce 90 per cent, of all the cloves raised 
in the world. 

Whole cloves have a great affinity for water. Some 
exjiorters have taken advantage of the fact by attempt- 
ing to place their sacks in a position aboard vessels 
where they may imbibe water and increase their weight, 
much to the detriment of the clove. 

[ 115 ] 



Cloves in their natural state lose from 50 to 60 per 
cent, in drying. One frasila of thirty-five pounds of 
freshly gathered cloves is equal to but half a frasila 
when dried. The difference in shortage between cloves 
at Zanzibar and on their arrival in Europe is about 8 
per cent. Only about two-thirds of a clove garden is 
depended on for bearing, one-third being allowed for 
barren young trees. The tree in its native islands 
begins to bear when from four to five years old and is 
at its prime at twelve years; but in xVmboina and other 
Molucca islands, Haruka, Saparua, and Naesalaut, it 
does not bear much until it is from ten to twelve years 
old, and it requires much more attention. 

The tree yields but one crop each year, which, on an 
average, is about seven pounds. A good healthy 
orchard at maturity produces about 375 pounds to the 
acre, less one-third for young trees, or about 300 pounds. 
The yield is often fifteen to twenty pounds to a tree, and 
we have records of trees which bore as high as seventy- 
five pounds at the age of 150 years. The ordinary life 
of a tree is from twenty to thirty years, though it varies 
much in different localities. When the clove tree be- 
comes old and worthless for bearing it will have a ragged 
appearance. 

Cloves are shipped to native ports in hides and are 
sometimes exported in sacks made from split cocoanut 
leaves, containing 133 1-3 pounds each, called " piculs," 
also in twenty-two-pound packages called " kilos." 
They are more often exported in double mats in bags 
called " f rales," of eighty to 100 pounds (called by the 
natives "mankunda"). These bags are preferred to 
gunny sacks, though there is more shortage, a fact which 
is strangely marked, since the mats, though double, 
admit a large amount of dampness. 

The average annual consumption of cloves through- 
out the world has been estimated at 11,000,000 pounds. 
No cloves were exported from Singapore in the year 
1904, but the city of Penang exported in that year 
$7,373.91 worth, and Colombo, Ceylon, exported 115 
hundred weight of cloves and mace in the same year. 
A transverse section of the lower part of a clove shows a 

[ 116 ] 







f 





CITY OF ZANZIBAR 




VIEW OF ZANZIBAR HARBOR 



dark rhomboid zone, the tissue on either side of which 
is of a lighter hue, which is chiefly made up of about thirty 
fibro-vascular bundles, another stronger bundle travers- 
ing the center of the clove. The outer layer of this, 
beneath the epidermis and belonging to it, we find to be 
a debris of no apparent structure, consisting of numer- 
ous cells and fibro-vascular bundles within their spiral 
vessels, with deep shreds of brown cellular matter 
attached. There are also tissues bordering on the oil 
cells. These cells are frequently as many as 300 micro- 
millimeters in diameter. 

About 200 oil cells may be counted in one transverse 
section, so that the large amount of essential oil in the 
drug is well shown by its microscopic character. Pol- 
len grains and sometimes whole anthers are present and 
concretions of oxalate of lime. 

The fibro-vascular bundles, as well as the tissues bor- 
dering on the oil cells, assume a greenish-black hue on 
coming in contact with alcoholic per chloride of iron. 
Oil cells are largely distributed in the leaves and petals 
but no starch is found in them. 

The clove is very rich in essential oil, containing a 
greater proportion than any other plant. The oil has 
a greater specific gravity than water and, therefore, 
sinks in it. Water extracts very little of the flavor of 
cloves. The oil combined with resinous matter in cloves 
gives them their pungency, and their aromatic property 
depends on the amount of oil they contain. 

In studying the structure of both the whole or the 
powdered cloves, an examination for starch in the pow- 
der should first be made in water, as the starch granules 
swell by the use of the chloral-hydrate solution. This 
solution must be used, however, as the sections and frag- 
ments will not be transparent without it. 

Cloves are ground on common burr stone, but great 
care must be taken in grinding since they contain so 
much oil. The best powdered cloves present a rich 
meal of reddish-brown color and are a good preventive 
of moths, but they deteriorate very rapidly. The 
natives of China and India use cloves to flavor their rice ; 
the oil is also used for medicinal purposes. Cloves, 

[ 117 ] 



stems, and leaves are shipped in large quantities from 
Zanzibar for adulterating the powdered clove and are 
called "vikunia"; by the native, "swahil"; French, 
" griffers de girofie, ' "peduncles de girofle"; Italy, 
" fustiand bastoreni"; Latin, " stiptes caryophylli." 

They form a dull, gray-colored powder and yield 
only 5 to 6 per cent, of volatile oil, and, of course, have 
only a corresponding percentage of the strength or 
value of the true clove (the root yields 0.04 per cent.). 
On account of their near appearance in color and flavor 
to the powdered clove, and particularly for their cheap- 
ness, they are much sought for by the miller of spices, 
as he can thus sell his mixture at a price much below the 
market value of the true powdered clove. This adul- 
terant may be easily detected by the microscope, which 
will reveal their thick-walled, hard, flinty stone cells and 
long, yellow, fibrous tissue, as similar structures are not 
found in the cloves in such abundance. The fruit of 
the clove, if added, contains starch granules, which are 
not present in the meal of the leaves and stems. 

Often the essential oil is pressed from the whole cloves 
and they are then rubbed in oil between the hands and 
mixed with cloves which drop from the trees; both are 
then mixed with good cloves, and all are sold as prime 
stock. They are, however, easily detected by their pale 
color and shrunken appearance and lack of pungency. 
On one occasion several bags of artificial whole 
cloves arrived in LondcJti from Zanzibar, neatly manu- 
factured by machinery from soft deal wood stained a 
dark color and soaked in a solution of essence of cloves 
to give them the required scent. Upon investigation it 
was found that this manufactured article had been im- 
ported into Zanzibar from America. 

A great many flowers of plants contain the flavor 
or perfumes of cloves. Among these are the flowers 
of the lettsomia bana-nox, called by the natives of Ban- 
gal " kulmiluta." The flowers which are produced in 
rainy seasons are large and pure white, expanding at 
sunset with a strong flavor of cloves, but they wither at 
sunrise. Sometimes the flower buds of Dicypellium 
caryophyllatum of Brazil, which has a bark called clove 

[ 118 ] 



cassia, are used as substitute for cloves (also called 
Brazilian clove bark). 

Cloves are largely adulterated with roasted rye and 
when the price of cloves is high, pimento or Jamaica 
pepper is often used as a mixture. This adulterant 
may be detected by the microscope by reason of the thick 
walls of the cells, which are not present in cloves, as well 
as by the (juantity of starch granules vvliich are not 
visible in the ground clove. 

The essential oil of cloves is a mixture of two oils, one 
a hydrocarbon isomeric with oil of turpentine and the 
other an oxygenated oil eugenol or eugenic acid, which 
possesses the taste and odor of cloves, depending on the 
amount of eugenol it contains. This amount may be 
estimated by separation as follows: Shake three parts 
of the oil with a solution composed of one part caustic 
potash or soda in ten parts of water ; press the crystalline 
paste of eugenol alkali which forms; take off the press 
residue with water; decompose with hydrochloric acid; 
wash the liberated eugenol with water, dry it with cal- 
cium chloride and then rectify. 

Clove oil is often adulterated with phenol. This 
adulterant may be detected by shaking the oil with fifty 
times its volume of hot water; after cooling, it is de- 
canted and concentrated at a gentle heat to a small bulk ; 
then a drop of liquid ammonia and a pinch of chloride 
are dropped on the surface; if phenol is present the 
liquor will assume a green color, which changes to a 
blue shade, which will remain for a number of days; if 
not adulterated, no coloration will be produced. Clove 
oil is first colorless, or yellow, and darkens with age and 
by exposure to the air. It consists of sesquialteral and 
an oxygenated oil, the first passing over with vapor of 
water, called " light oil of cloves." 

When the crude oil is distilled with strong potash of 
lye, its composition is C1SH24, specific gravity 0.190 at 
15 degrees C, its boiling point 251 degrees to 254 
degrees C, its optical power being very light. 

The other, which is the eugenol, is the chief constitu- 
ent. Its composition is CioHi2()2. This constituent 
exists to the extent of 76 to 85 per cent., while very fine 

[ 119 ] 



may contain 90.64 per cent, in the oil of cloves, in direct 
proportion to the quality of the product. 

Good oil of cloves should have a specific gravity of 
1.067 at 15 degrees C, and should be freely soluble in 
alcohol at 90 per cent. An adulteration by turpentine 
would lower the specific gravity and diminish the solu- 
bihty in alcohol. Eugenol is a strongly refractive 
hquid with the characteristic smell and the burning taste 
of cloves, and by exposure to the air it becomes brown ; on 
fusion with caustic potash it yields protocatechuic acid 
convertible into vanillin by action of potassium per- 
manganate. Eugenol is also found in pimento and in 
the leaves of cinnamon and of many other trees and has 
been artificially produced by the action of sodium amal- 
gam on coniferyl alcohol. Pure eugenol has a specific 
gravity of 1.072 at 15 degrees; its boiling point is 253 
degrees to 243 degrees C, and it forms a clear solution 
in 1 per cent, of caustic potash solution. 

Clove oil has been found to contain some salicylic 
acid, which gives the greenish blue coloration when it is 
brought in contact with an alcoholic solution of per- 
chloride of iron, and produces the intense violet color 
when it is agitated with metallic reduced iron. This 
acid may be isolated by agitating the oil with a solution 
of carbonate of ammonia. Caryophyllin (CioHigO), 
a neutral, tasteless, inodorous substance, isomeric with 
common camphor, crystallizable in prismatic needles, 
has also been found in cloves by extracting with ether 
cloves previously deprived of the greater part of their 
essential oil by a little alcohol. 

Cloves also contain 16 per cent, of a peculiar tannic 
acid, 13 per cent, of gum, and about 18 per cent, of 
water and extractive matter. 

The chemical composition of cloves differs to quite 
an extent in the different countries where they grow — 
Amboina, 19 per cent. ; Zanzibar, 17.5 per cent. 

Water, . 11.00 to 2.75 

Ash, 

Volatile Oil, .... 
Fixed Oil and Resin, 
Crude Fiber, .... 
Albuminoids, .... 

[ 120 ] 



13.00 to 5.00 
21.00 to 9.00 
11.00 to 4.00 
10.00 to 6.00 
8.00 to 4.00 



Coffee oil is least volatile of any essential oil and is 
obtained from the flower buds and the flower stalks of 
cloves by aqueous distillation. This distillation is 
largely carried on in England, and the proportion of 
oil may amount to 16 or 20 per cent., but, to extract 
the whole, distillation must be long continued ; the water 
being returned to the same material. The oil is a color- 
less or yellowish liquid like all clove oil, with a powerful 
odor and flavor of cloves, varying in specific gravity 
from 1.046 to 1.058. It combines well with grease, 
soap, and spirits, and is largely used in perfumery, and 
in Germany it is often adulterated with carbolic acid 
( phenol ) . 



[ 121 ] 



1 



CHAPTER XI 

GINGER 

Ginger black or ginger white 
Will furnish warmth in coldest night. 
Without ginger how many would miss 
A ginger cookie for little Sis. 

GINGER {o^cinale (Roscoe) amomum zingiber, 
national order zingiberaceoe Linn., monandria- 
monogynia) . 

French, Gingembre; German, Ingwer; Latin, Zingi- 
ber; Italian, Zenzevero; Spanish, Gengibre; Portu- 
guese, Gengiuare. 

As a rule, spices grow above ground, but ginger is 
an exception, it being the roots or rizomes of Zingiber. 
The root is herbaceous and creeping, tuberous, and of 
a somewhat flattened roundish form, marked with rings. 

It is difficult to fix the original habits of the ginger 
plant, and it appears to be an unsettled question as to 
its native country, whether it be Asia or Brazil, but in 
its wild state it would suggest Asia. Its history dates 
back to a very early period. 

Vincent's " Commerce and Navigation of the An- 
cients " speaks of the imports of it from the Red Sea into 
Alexandria in the second century. It has been known 
in India from a very remote period, the Greek and Latin 
names for ginger being derived from the Sanskrit. 
The Greek name for ginger is conceded to have been 
taken from its Persian application. 

Ginger is indigenous to China, and many leading 
authorities aver that it derives its name ginger in China, 
where it formerly grew abundantly, and that the plant 
was first called gingi at that place. It was common in 
the thirteenth and^ fourteenth centuries and was next in 
value to pepper, which was most common of all spices. 

It was thought by the Greeks and Romans to have been 
a product of Southern Arabia and was received by them 

[ 122 ] 




GINGER. (Amomum Zingiber) 

1 Leaf stalk 3 Cochin ginger 

2 Flowers 4 African 

5 Jamaica 



by way of the Red Sea. Pliny describes it as coming 
from Arabia. The Romans fixed a duty on ginger, 
which is mentioned among other Indian spices, and 
ginger is mentioned in the hsts of dutiable goods of the 
Middle Ages, showing that it constituted an important 
item of commerce between Europe and the East. This 
duty was levied in Paris in 1296; Barcelona, 1221 ; Mar- 
seilles, 1228. Ginger appears to have been well known 
in England before the Norman conquest, since it is 
often referred to in the Anglo-Saxon books of the 
eleventh century. 

Marco Polo appears to have seen the ginger plant, 
both in India and China, about 1280, and some of the 
missionary friars who visited India about 1292 give a 
description of the plant and refer to it as being dug 
up and transplanted. The Venetian merchants in the 
early part of the fifteenth century describe the plant 
as seen by them in India, and, though the Venetians 
received ginger by way of Egypt, some of the superior 
kinds were taken from India overland via Afghanistan, 
Persia, and Turkey, and the Black Sea, then through 
the Dardanelles to the Mediterranean and to the Euro- 
pean market. Francis de Mendoza is said to have first 
introduced it into America in 1547, bringing it from the 
East Indies. 

There is good proof of its having been shipped for 
commercial purposes from San Domingo in 1585, and as 
early as 1547 considerable quantities were sent from the 
West Indies to Spain. 

The plant endures a wide range of climate. It 
may be grown at the sea level or in high mountain 
regions, providing the rainfall be abundant or irriga- 
tion be adapted. It is found cultivated from the 
Himalaya Mountains, 5,000 feet above sea level, to 
Cape Comorin. 

It is now found in Southeastern Asia, in some of the 
islands of the Malayan Archipelago, on the west coast 
of Africa, in South America, and the West Indies, 
and, in fact, almost all warm countries, including China 
and Japan, which are large exporters of ginger. The 
city of Calcutta (City of Palaces), from two words, 

[ 123 J 



Kali-ghatta, signifying the landing place of the God- 
dess Kali, in Bengal India, exports more than any other 
city in the world. The finest white ginger, which is 
most in demand, comes from Jamaica. The acreage 
is not large, amounting to only 350 acres in 1891; it 
probably does not now much exceed 400 acres, but im- 
proved methods of cultivation have increased the aver- 
age yield per acre to a large amount. Ginger is found 
in the following districts of India: Mahur, Massa, 
Patra, Darra, Kothi, Kotahi, Bagal, and Jayal. It is 
found throughout the Kwang-tung province, China. 
The district of Nan-hai, which belongs to the city of 
Canton, produces a greater quantity and better quality 
than any other of the neighboring districts. The inde- 
pendent tribes of the Miso-tsu, in the mountains of the 
northwestern border of the same province, produce 
much ginger, as does also Cochin China, from which the 
famous Cochin ginger derives its name. In the district 
of Hsin-hsing, about thirty miles south of the city of 
Chao-Ching, on the West River, three-tenths of the 
flatland and seven-tenths of the cultivated soil in the 
hills are planted with ginger. A distinction is made 
between flatland ginger (in Canton dialect ten-keung) 
which is generally soft and tender, and mountain ginger 
(shan keung) which is brittle and pungent. 

Three kinds of ginger were known among the mer- 
chants of Italy about the middle of the fourteenth 
century. 

The first was belledi or baladi (an Arabic name), 
which, as applied to ginger, would signify " country " 
or " wild," and denotes common ginger. 

Second: Calombina, which refers to Calumbum, 
Kolam or Quilon, a port in Travancore, frequently 
mentioned in the Middle Ages. 

Third: Micchino, a name which denoted that the 
spice had been brought from or by way of Mecca. 

It is inferred from the examination of specimens of 
preserved ginger that are sent abroad from China that 
the Chinese have a species unknown in other countries. 
This inference is in harmony with the well-known 
Chinese secretiveness, a characteristic of this strange 

[ 124 ] 




BIRD-S-EYE VIEW OF COCHIN 




CcjpyriKlit by Underwood and Underwood, X. Y. 

CLEAN AND AIRY CHOWRINGHEE ROAD (Esplanade at Left) LOOKING NORTH OVER 

CALCUTTA. INDIA 



people which is not only inbred but also inborn. It is 
possible, however, that some other plant which is not true 
ginger may be used in making the celebrated Canton 
preserved ginger, but, while this possibility is suspected, 
it has not been proven. 

The British and American markets derive their sup- 
ply of ginger from various parts of the world. The 
principal kinds found in conmierce are Jamaica (Fig. 
5), Cochin (Fig. 3), and African (Fig. 4), the Sierra 
Leone district producing the bulk of the African. 
Although each of these in its turn has several varieties 
and qualities, the best and most valued kind of all is 
Jamaica (Fig. 5) , and next to it is the Cochin (Fig. 3) . 
The Cochin when bleached resembles Jamaica to some 
extent. Ginger is classified into several species, as the 
narrow leaf, the broad leaf, and the Japanese red leaf; 
the narrow leaf being the most esteemed. 

Ginger thrives best on rich clay or cool loam soil that 
is well drained. New land which has been plowed but 
two or three times is best adapted to its cultivation. 
The ground should be dug up and cleared of 
weeds. The plant will not grow in dry sand or hard 
clay soil. 

Ginger, being an underground stem of tuberous- 
appearing roots, takes its botanical name, rhizome, 
from the Spanish word rais, a root. These roots are 
known in commerce as races, and in Jamaica as hands, 
from their irregular palmate form. The real roots are 
the fibers thrown off the rhizomes. 

It is a perennial, reed-like plant, similar in appearance 
to our iris or flag root, two aerial stems being thrown 
up from each of the underground roots (Fig. 1) , which 
soon rise above ground to the height of three or four 
feet. The first of the shoots thrown up bears the leaves, 
and the second or shorter stem, the flowers, which blos- 
som in August (rhodon) or September. At this time 
the ground will be covered by the spread of the leaves 
which wither and fade at the close of the year, when 
the root is in a ripe state and is ready for harvesting. 
The leaves are alternate, bright-green, smooth, and 
tapering or lanceolate at both ends, with very short peti- 

[ 125 ] 



oles which gradually diverge from the stem until they 
are nearly horizontal, seven or eight inches in length. 

The flowers are borne on the shorter separate stem 
( Fig. 2 ) , averaging from six to twelve inches high at 
the apex of the stems. They appear in dense, ovate, 
oblong, cane-like spikes from two to three inches long, 
composed of obtuse, strongly imbricated bracts or scales 
with membranous margins between each bract, enclosing 
a single small yellowish-white sessile flower with purple 
or blue marking, and have an agreeable fragrance. 

The ginger planting takes place in ^March and April 
when the rainy season begins. The cleared lands are 
made into beds with a little raised edge which forms 
trenches between the beds (see illustration), with open- 
ings between to allow the water to run off, for, if al- 
lowed to stand on the beds, it will cause the tubers to 
rot, and sometimes the beds are raised between the rows 
to eighteen-inch squares, two rows being planted on 
each ridge, the sides being perpendicular. Propaga- 
tion is effected by divisions of the protuberances of the 
roots which are broken in small pieces, one or two inches 
in length, care being taken to leave at least one short 
bud on each cutting ; they are then planted in well-broken 
beds four inches deep, in the manured holes in the 
trenches made in the beds which are nine to twelve 
inches apart and are shaded with bushes, which are 
replaced in ten days by twigs. The land must be kept 
well weeded during May, June, and July. It is well to 
cover the land half an inch deep with a mold of dead 
leaves, and when it rains the water will be impregnated 
with manure which filters readily through the leaves to 
the roots, and they must be kept watered in dry times. 

The rhizome sometimes grows to a great size; often 
a single root will weigh one pound. It is a great im- 
povisher of land and the same ground should not be used 
more than two consecutive years, and it is better to use 
it but one year. The yield is 4,000 pounds and upwards 
to an acre, each plant producing about eight tubers, and 
eight to ten times more in weight than the amount 
planted. 

The ginger of commerce varies in form from single 

[ 126 ] 




MAKING A GINGER GARDEN 




HOEING GINGER 



joints an inch or less in length to flattish, irregularly 
branched pieces of several joints from three to four 
inches long. Each branch has a depression at its sum- 
mit, showing the former attachment of a leafy stem. 
The color in its natural state is a pale buff. It has a 
somewhat rough or fibrous appearance, breaking with a 
short, mealy fracture, and presenting on the surface 
of the broken parts numerous short, bristly fibers. 
When young, it has a light color, internally soft, and 
changing to greenish. As it grows older it becomes 
grey outside and reddish internally. When ready for 
digging the texture becomes fibrous and firm and heavy, 
and when dried it is covered with wrinkled striated 
brown integuments which give it a crude appearance, 
which is less developed on the flat surface and, inter- 
nally, it is less bright and delicate than ginger from 
which the cuticle part has been removed. 

The best pieces of ginger root are collected at the 
harvest and thrown into heaps and covered with cow 
manure to keep the roots from drying for the next 
planting. 

The scraped ginger, or marrow, has a pale hue and 
breaks readily and moderately short, the younger and 
terminal portions appearing pale yellow, being soft 
and starchy, while the longer transverse sections of the 
more perfect and outer parts are hard, flinty, and resin- 
ous, surrounding a farinaceous center which has a 
speckled appearance from the cut extremities of the 
fibers and ducts. The external layer of coated ginger 
is separated, about one millimeter broad, by a fine line 
from the whitish mealy interior portion, through the 
tissue of which numerous vascular bundles and resin cells 
are irregularly scattered: The external tissue consists of 
loose outer layer and an inner composed of tubular cells. 
These are followed by peculiar short parenchymatous 
cells, the walls of which are sinuous on a transverse sec- 
tion, and partially thickened, imparting a horny appear- 
ance. This delicate, felted tissue forms the striated 
surface of scraped ginger and is the principal seat of 
the resin and volatile oil, which here fill large spaces, 
the principal constituents being of the parenchymatous 

[ 127 ] 



cells loaded with starch and resin. The volatile oil gives 
ginger its odor ; the resin, pungency. The starch gran- 
ules are irregularly spherical in form, attaining at the 
utmost forty millimeters in diameter. Certain varieties 
of ginger, owing to the starch having been rendered 
gelatinous by scalding, are throughout horny and trans- 
lucent. The circle of vascular bundles which separates 
the outer layers and the central portion is narrow and 
has the structure of the corresponding circle or nucleus 
sheath of tumeric. (See illustrations 12, 13, 14, Chap. 
Ill; illustration 12 shows ginger adulterated; 13 and 
14 pure.) Coated ginger has usually a less bright, 
delicate hue than ginger from which the cuticle part has 
been removed, much of it being dark, horny, and 
resinous. 

Ginger differs in quality and in commercial value in 
different localities. It is also influenced by the cultiva- 
tion, harvesting, and preparation, but all true ginger has 
the same starchy, fibrous rhizome; the best quality 
is plump, with little or no epidermis, while the inferior 
quality is frequently coated and is not so plump. 

Borneo or Cochin (Fig. 3) (or bleached ginger) is 
said to be produced by submitting the root to the action 
of the fumes of burning sulphur or by washing it in 
chloride of lime, but by chemical analysis it has been 
found that the bleached appearance is due to the appli- 
cation of common whitewash to the root, which is dusted 
over while wet with marble dust. This treatment, of 
course, injures the quality of the root. 

The Cochin ginger is what is called the white ginger. 
It is prepared by washing and scraping the roots one at 
a time. This process takes much time, and the only 
benefit to be derived from it is that it makes the root 
more agreeable to the eye, and for that reason causes it 
to bring a much higher price. 

At the time of digging the rhizomes boiling is kept in 
the field with frequent changing of water, and the 
roots intended for market are plunged into the boiling 
water and allowed to remain for about ten minutes. 
This process injures the aromatic spirits of the ginger. 

At the first of the year, in January or February, the 

[ 128 ] 




KINGSTON, JAMAICA 



harvesting takes place. The form in which ginger is 
harvested differs in different countries. In some coun- 
tries the ginger is dried with the epidermis removed. 
This is known as scraped ginger. In other countries 
the ginger is harvested without removing the epidermis. 
These two forms of the product are known commer- 
cially as coated and uncoated ginger. The scraped gin- 
ger is exported mostly from Cochin and Brazil, the 
coated from Africa and from a district of India, and is 
known as Malabar ginger. It is exported from the 
city of Calcutta. 

When the roots are first dug they are placed in bas- 
kets suspended by ropes and are pulled by two men 
with ropes at each end of the basket for two hours each 
day for two days, giving them a good shaking up to 
remove the scales and rootlets. The rhizomes are next 
spread on a raised platform to dry for eight days and 
are then shaken, when two more days' drying puts them 
in keeping state for the market. They are put up in 
parcels of one hundred pounds each. The product is 
known as black ginger. 

With proper care much money might be made by 
cultivating ginger in India, but since this crop receives 
but little care it has but a small market value. The 
roots many times are cared for by simply smearing 
with cow manure. They are hung about huts to dry 
and become shriveled and dirty, and although they may 
be well smoked, they will be badly bored by the bamboo 
insects. 

India ginger is quite similar to African and, is known in 
commerce as Calcutta (not shown in illustration) , from 
the city of export and is largely used for flavoring. It 
also is superior for ginger snaps, ginger beer, and gin- 
ger wine. 

The African and Barbadoes differ from the India by 
the epidermis being less shriveled. They are not so 
hard or dark, and are sometimes scraped and bleached 
and made white by the chemical process of chloride of 
lime, a process which impairs the quality of the product 
but increases its market value. The bleaching and coat- 
ing with gypsum or carbonate of lime is a process often 

[ 129 ] 



np|»Ii('(l l(> old Mnd iiircrior roots lo nuikc llHiri smImMc 
l»V mjilviii;^ llicin nioic allniclivc lo llic eye. 

Tlic .Ijinuiicn is llir hcsl. /^iii^c r and is alvvnys told by 
lis jmlc, hri^lil yellow color. Tlic icjd mniiow oi* wiiilc 
^iii^ci* (Ziii/^ilx r nllMiiii) is ohhiiiicd IVoiii llic si'ru|>i(l 
.liiiMnicM ^iii/^c r, wliicli is I rcc Irom resin and will ^ive 
ii|> |)ro|)eilies lo wnier very readily, a lael wliieli makes 
it very valiiahle lor inedieinal iis<'. 

Cliina prj'served /.»iM;^(r has a more a/^reeaMe aro- 
malie llavor lliaii llial (d' llie VV^esl Indies, and llie eele- 
iMJiied ('anli)n preserved excels all oilier preserved ^iii- 
^•er. The syrup waters drawn oil" are used for cool 
ilrinks. Canton ex|>orte(l lor the lirst (juarter of the 
yeai" l\H)!^t ('>r>() piciils of preserved ;^iii<4('r of l.'J.'i pounds 
each. 

When the luhcrs are intended lor siijuar- pressed ^in- 
^•er, they are du/^" in early sprin/^", wiiile ^reen, to ol>lairi 
that wiiiiii is youn;^', lender, and rull ol' juice. 'VUv. 
Nol't, succulent, perennial rhi/omes at such times nirely 
exceed live to six inches in length and are known as 
^rceii ^in^'cr. 'I'liey are huried in another place I'or 
II. month and are then dried in the sunshine I'or one day, 
nl'ter which I hey are lit I'or •j;reen /^'in^^'er. 

I*reser\cd «^iii^('r {Comlilioii Zdiii^ilxiris) is |)repared 
hy cleaning' the ^reen rool, which is du^" when youiiL*,' 
and lender and lull ol" sa|), helore it is hard and woody, 
iuid scaldin;^- il unlil it is siillieienlly lender. It is nc.xt 
put into cold water and |)eeled and scraju'd gradually, 
an (►peralion which may last Ihree or I'our days, the 
waler hein;^' ehani^-e<l ol'len. A Tier this it is juil into 
^lass jars and covered \\ilh a lliin or vvtak syru|> vvhich, 
in I wo or Ihree days, is chan/^cd I'or a richer syru|). 
Souk linns even a third syrup is poured oil' for the 
fourth and yel Ihicker syrup, hut not ol'tcn. The 
syrup will he very Ihick and Ihe ^iri^cr will he 
hri«^lit and neaily I lansparenl. The I'ollowino- rule for 
making' preseived /^in^cr is inlallihle: Let the youn^ 
luhcrs hoil I'or Iwenly-I'our hours, then |»eel oil' Ihe dis- 
colored and hard |)arls. Next hoil one pound loa I' su!.»ar 
in six pinis of waler and pour Ihe syrup over Iwelve 
pounds ol' Ihe cooked ^iu'^'ei' in a )ar. I icl it sland I'or 

I i.io I 



^ 




CAN'ION. CHINA 




MAN1M';VIIJ,K. JAMAICA 



one week, when the syrup is drawn off and the ginger is 
again boiled and treated to another syrup Hke the first 
and left to stand another week, when again the syrup 
should be drawn off through a fine sieve. Return the 
ginger to the stone jar and pour over it the final syrup, 
made of twelve pints of boiling water and twelve pounds 
of loaf sugar, boiled and stirred until it is as thick as 
good honey, and will drop slowly from a silver sj^oon, 
the ginger having been previously covered with boiling 
water and allowed to remain until cool. It is next 
placed in the bottles or jars for which it is intended, in 
small pieces, as closely as they will pack, up to the cork, 
so that there will be no room for air. It is then corked 
with a good, new cork. Candied ginger is dried, 
sprinkled with sugar, and is imported in boxes. 

In order to powder ginger root it must first be passed 
through a cracker machine, as it is called, to reduce it 
to a proper size for feeding in a mill. The mill consists 
of a roller provided with very coarse teeth, which revolve 
through similar stationary teeth ; the material is retained 
by a semi-circular perforated plate until it is reduced 
to the size of the perforation, or about the size of a 
coffee bean, when it is then ready for the burr stones. 

In ground ginger little of its structure is seen beyond 
the starchy grains which can readily be distinguished 
by their shape and by their fibrous, vascular bundles 
which are easily traceable. In the unscraped ginger the 
outer horny layer is to be seen, but not distinct in its char- 
acter at any time, and when scalding of the rhizomes takes 
place, the starch grains are swollen and it is more diffi- 
cult to find the foreign particles. Good powdered gin- 
ger should have the fibers taken out by sifting. 

The best ginger cuts pale, but bright, with a varied 
color, both outside and inside. Its consistency is ascer- 
tained by cutting, and varies from hard to soft or, as 
is termed in the trade, flinty, the soft being the best. 

The popular medicinal stimulant known as Jamaica 
ginger extract is an alcoholic extract of ginger root, 
and is often resorted to by old topers who can no longer 
be satisfied with whiskey. 

Salable essence of ginger is made by taking one 

[ 131 ] 



pint of strong tincture of the finest Jamaica, to which 
add in small portions at a time finely powdered slacked 
lime, shaking vigorously after each addition, until the 
tincture ceases to lose color, then throw the whole upon 
a filter and pass through the residue proof spirit until 
the product will measure two pints. Next add, drop by 
drop, diluted sulphuric acid until the rich yellow of the 
tincture suddenly disappears. Let it stand twenty- 
four hours, dilute with water to four pints, and shake 
with a little powdered pumice or silica and filter at 
degrees C, if possible. 

Ginger lozengers are used as a confectionery which 
frequently benefits dyspepsia and generally encourages 
flesh. 

Ginger-beer powders are made by mixing two ounces 
of white sugar with twenty-six grains of bicarbonate of 
soda, five grains of powdered ginger, and one drop of 
essence of lemon, put in white paper. In blue paper 
put half ounce of tartaric acid. In drinking use in the 
same way as seidlitz powder. 

The following is a good recipe for making ginger 
beer, and it has a high medical authority as yielding a 
very superior beverage, and one that will keep for 
several months: White sugar, twenty pounds; lemon 
juice, eighteen fluid ounces; honey, one pound; bruised 
ginger, twenty-two ounces; water, eighteen gallons. 
Boil the ginger in three gallons of water for half an 
hour, then add the sugar, the lemon juice, and the honey 
with the remainder of the water, and strain through a 
cloth; when cold, add the white of one egg and half an 
ounce of essence of lemon ; after standing for four or five 
days, bottle. The bottles should be laid on their sides 
in a cellar, and the beer is ready for use in about three 
weeks. If a little yeast has been used the beer is ready 
in about two days, but in this case the beer does not keep 
well. 

The principal consumption of ginger is not only as a 
useful aromatic spice, but when applied to the nostrils 
it acts as an irritant and produces sneezing. The 
native doctors prize it highly as a stimulant. It is 
especially valued for paralytic and rheumatic troubles, 

[ 132 ] 





i 


l^r^'''M'''^i^^K^- ' ^^^^^^H 


|^^V| ^B^^^^^^ 



MoNi !•;<;(» 




I'OJn KOYAI,, JAMAICA 



and also for intermittent fevers. Europeans often use 
infusions of ginger for delicate nerves in place of tea. 
The green root cut into strips and steeped is thought to 
be superior to the dried root. 

Rhi/onie chewed relieves toothache and powerfully 
increases the flow of saliva, and to the stomach it oper- 
ates as a stimulant, first to the alimentary canal and, 
secondly, to the body in general, especially the organs 
of respiration. In enfeebled and relaxed habits, espe- 
cially of old and gouty individuals, it promotes digestion 
and relieves flatulency and spasms of the stomach and 
bowels. It checks and prevents nausea and griping, 
which is sometimes produced by some drastic purgative, 
and a ginger plaster when applied to the forehead will 
relieve headache. When powdered and used with hot 
water and applied externally it produces a sensation of 
intense heat, and slight redness, and adds cordial qualities 
to the tonic. 

Powdered ginger may be taken in doses of ten grains 
or more in the form of a pill or in tea. When used to 
excess, however, it is very dangerous, as it slowly 
destroys the lining of the stomach and causes lingering 
pain and agonizing death. 

Ginger contains a great deal of alcohol. This fact 
accounts for the formation of the so-called ginger habit 
to which the victim becomes a slave as to the whiskey, 
opium, or tobacco habit. Indulgence in this habit is 
more dangerous because ginger is supposed to be harm- 
less. 

A careful qualitative examination of the character of 
the extracts at times may reveal the presence of an adul- 
terant, but the chief dependence is examination under 
the microscope. The microscope, however, will not 
reveal the presence of exhausted ginger, and a careful 
study of the effect of exhaustion on the proximate 
composition of the ground root is, therefore, desirable. 
It would naturally increase the relative percentage of 
fiber and albuminoids and starch, and diminish that of 
the extract matter. 

There is a variety of ginger known and cultivated 
by the Chinese under the name of Galangal A. offici- 

[ ISH ] 



narom. It. is very I hick jiikI sli/^lilly llallciicd and is 
])ri'/,('(l hy tlic Siami'sc and ('liiiust' as a suhsliliitc lor 
/^in/^( r. Ill Siaiii it is known as v\l|)inia. 'riurc is also 
a. varicly round and ciillivatcd in Siaiii similar to /Mpinia 
allii/^'lins, called Ink rcii or haslard cardiiinoiii, vvliicii has 
llic cardanioiM-likc rriiil. ( iin^cr usually comes to N(;w 
\ ink in I 10 lo l2()-|)ound l)a|>s and l.'J()-|)oiin<i harrcls. 

The yield of oil (rom /^in/^cr is I'lom 1.1) lo 15.7 per 
cent., Iiaviii/^' a s|)ecilic gravity at 15 de«4rees C'. of 
O.KHO to O.HHf), and nii opiical rotation of 2.5 to 40 
de/^ices in a 100-millimeter tiihe. 

The chemical composition of ^in/^cr oil remniris 
unknown, hut it is known to contain cam|)hene and otiicr 
injured ien Is; ils complex' nature is indicated hy the wide 
ran/.»"e ol' Ms hodin*;' point. 

Wlieii distilled, alter drying over CaCl2,ilie hoii hc/^ins 
to |)ass over at IK) decrees ('., accompanied hy a few 
dro|)s of a<|ue(>us Ihiid, (he temperature const.intly and 
rapidly risin*;' to ahout 240 (lc|rrces, the chiel' portion 
ol' the oil coming- over helween 'iK) dc/^rces and 270 
dc/^rces ('. and a little passes owv l)et\veen 270 decrees 
Hiid .'JOO decrees, hut evidently ucconipanicd hy decoin- 
posilion prodiicls, a I raiispareni, hrovvn, tenacious, semi- 
solid residue remaining' in Mask. 

The lower hoiliii^- |)r()(hicts retain the ^in^er aroma, 
which is noted when diluled with s|)irils, and are much 
more soliihle in reclilied spirits than higher fractions. 
Oil of /^iii/^cr is yellow in color and its odor is intensely 
like that of the root; that of Jamaica is the most I'ra- 
/^nint, hut has not the hurnin^", pun«4cnt taste ol' ^in^er, 
which is due to ;^iii^-erol, the active |)un/4ent principle of 
the root. 

(lin^'crolc exists in the dried rhi/omcs to the extent 
of from 0.(500 to 1.1-50 |)cr cent. It is of a ])ale straw 
color and odorless, with a |)un«^-ent, hitler taste. It is 
solnhle in alcohol in even 50 percent, dilution; it is also 
soluhle in hen/ene, volatile oils, carhon disul|)hide, solu- 
tion of jiotash and ammonia, and <j;lacial acetic acid, and 
very sli<.»htly soluhle in petroleum ether, consislini*' of 
resin, starch, mucila«;e, and pMraHinc, or<.»;anic acids, 
oxalic acids as (^aC2C4 cellulose alhuminoids, etc., 

[ I. SI. ] 



wliicli conHliliKMils of /^iii^cr Jir«- roMiid l»> Im- odoi'lcHH 
;iji(l l;isl<lr.s,s. 

TIjc jilcoliolic soliilioii is ii(iilr;i,l in ntnvWan and i^ivcs 
no |>r(ci|)il,al,(.' vvilli llic a,<'(; laics oC lt;a(l nor willi lime, 
and (Iocs nol yield /^lin-os*- vvlicn licjilcd willi dilwlcri 
.sulphuric ncid. Slron/^ siil|)liuri(! ju-id dissolves il willi 
the pHxhutlion of a l)n)wii color; liydro(;hlori(! acid docH 
iiol afl'ci'l il. Nilricr n,cid convcrls il inlo a hlood-rcd 
rcsinoiiH sid)slanc(;, 

Adullcranls of ^ifi^cr arc Na^o, lapiocra, flour of rice, 
wIkjiI, and polnlocs, Ciiycnnc jind mushird hidls, Jirid 
tiiiiMric and cxhauslcd f^Hi^cv. 'i'hc ror<i/^n slarch(;s, 
Cayenne, and niuslard hulls are cjisily dcl(t<'lcd, hul the 
tuiri('ri(! ( Kasl India nrrowrool) cells, from Iheir res(!in- 
hlancc lo llic r(;sin /^lohules of Ihe finger, lire inosl con- 
fusing. l*'or (htlcclion of cxhausl(Ml ginger recourse 
rnusl l)(; hnd lo proxiirial(! ;ifi;i lysis. 

('h(.'niical com posi lion of /^in^cr: 

Ash may vary from liA lo H per (icrjl, ; fiher, 1.7 lo {) 
p<,'r cenl. 

The while ^in^er has less ash Ihun Ihe (hirk, as is also 
the case in regard lo the percentage of fiher. 

Wut<;r, I 1.00 1/1 (MO 

AhI., 7.0y to H.H() 

Volal.il(t Oil, U..rA lo .<)('} 

I'ixrA Oil, 'i.nn to U/2U 

Sbin-h, r.'A.HH to 4f).lf) 

CriKl.- I'ilxT, 7. fin to 1.70 

AII>uiniiioi(lH, lO.H.'J to .'5.'x!.'> 

It is said that the; waler and slareh (-xlracl from the 
weight f>f lh(; newly dug rool 7/5 lo 85 p*;r cenl., nnd y<;t 
the dried rool relai/is all Ihe valunhh; aromali(r (jualili(-s. 



I \:'.r, I 



CHAPTER XII 

NUTMEGS 

Though all your parts we rashly grate 

To particles most fine, 
You yet return for cruel strokes, 

Tears filled with perfume fine. 

NUTMEGS are the fruit of Myristica fragrans 
(natural order Myristicaceoe) maschata officinalis, 
Myristica is founded upon the Greek word 
myrrh, myristikas, sweet smeUing, and belongs to the 
custard family. 

Italian, Nace mmcada; French, Muscades et mads or 
Naia^ muscade; Portuguese, Noiz mascada; German, 
Muskatnusse and Muskatbluther. 

The nutmeg was known by the Persians (as jouz- 
bewa) and by the Arabians (jowzalteib) in the eighth 
century. There are about forty different species. 
Although the name myristikas (sweet smelling) was 
given to the genus on account of the odor of its fruit, 
there is a material difference in the several species, the 
commercial value of the fruit depending upon the de- 
gree in which the essential oil producing this perfume 
is present. 

The true nutmeg is the kernel, mostly consisting of the 
albumen of the fruit or the seed of a dioecious evergreen 
tree, which in some countries, as in New Guinea, grows 
from fifty to sixty feet high. It is a native of the Molucca 
Islands. The nutmeg gardens of the world are the 
Banda Islands belonging to the East Indies, but the 
nutmeg is also found in the West Indies on the Island 
of Jamaica, which is quite noted for its nutmeg planta- 
tions. Nutmegs are also found in Bengal, Singapore, 
Penang, and French Guinea and Brazil, in the west 
peninsula of New Guinea, Damma, Amboina, Ceram, 
Boro, Boero or Bouro, Gilolo, Sumatra, and they have 
been successfully introduced in Ternate, Menando, in 

[ 136 ] 




NUTMKG. (Mysistica) 

1 NutmeR with Mace and part inner shell. 4 Singapore or tJatavia 

2 Brown Pedang 5 Flowering twig with leaf 

3 Long Macassar with Mace 6 Burr just opening showing the Mace 



the Celebes group, and in Java and Bourbon or Reunion, 
but not in the Thihppines. They do not do well except 
between 12 degrees north and 5 degrees south of the 
equator. They are found growing wild in the Banda 
Islands, to which they are indigenous. Three of these 
islands are noted for their nutmeg gardens, viz : Great 
Banda or Lantor (Lantor Banda), Pulo Nera, and 
Goenong A pi. The three islands together contain 
thirty- four parks, of which Great Banda has twenty- 
five, Goenong Api six, and Pulo Nera three. 

These parks contain 319,804 bearing trees, which pro- 
duce annually about 4,000 piculs of 139y2 pounds each 
of nutmegs, and 1,000 pounds of mace. This yield gives 
about one and one-half catties of 139 pounds each of 
spice to each tree per annum. But much of the fruit is 
lost on account of the height of the trees, and the inac- 
cessible places in which many of the nuts fall. Many 
drop into the streams and float away, and many are lost 
by being worm-eaten, also many are eaten by field rats. 
The entire group of Banda Islands is comprised within 
a space seven miles long and three miles wide; in fact, 
these are the dimensions of the Island of Lantor itself. 
The islands are of a light volcanic soil, and the great 
moisture, due to the numerous rains, makes them most 
favorable for nutmeg raising, and seems almost per- 
fectly to suit the requirements of the tree. The only 
cultivation required is to keep the grass and weeds and 
underbrush cut, no manuring or artificial stimulus being 
needed. Almost the entire surface of the islands is 
planted with nutmeg trees. The labor is performed by 
Dutch convicts, who are banished to these islands, there 
being no native population. 

Plants which spring up spontaneously from the seed 
are taken up and transplanted by simply heeling in the 
ground of the required vacancy. In some places 
clumps of trees are found growing not more than ten 
to twelve feet apart under the shade of the canarium 
commune. In fact, the nutmeg is more collected than 
cultivated in the Banda Islands. The trees grow from 
fifty to sixty feet high, while those of the Straits are 
but a shrub in comparison, and in other countries they 

[ 137 ] 



grow only from twenty to forty feet high, and need 
much manuring and very careful cultivation. It would 
appear as if the trees were overshaded in the Straits, 
and yet they require much shade to protect them from 
the strong winds which prevail there. 

When a nutmeg plantation is to be started, great care 
must be taken to select a good, rich, virgin soil, formed 
of a deep loam with good drainage, as the plants will 
not thrive on a sandy soil. The rainfall should be at 
least from sixty to seventy inches per annum. 
Although the nutmeg plant is essentially a lowland plant, 
flourishing from two hundred to four hundred feet 
above sea level, and not proving successful at a higher 
elevation than fifteen hundred feet, it must be kept free 
from stagnant water about its roots, for this would 
surely kill it. Virgin forest lands, with a soil covered 
with a layer of leaf mold or rotten wood, is well adapted 
to the cultivation of the plant, and a hot, moist climate 
is requisite. Plenty of shade is necessary to protect the 
trees from the prevailing winds which would scatter the 
flowers and uproot the trees, as the roots take but a 
slender hold in the ground. Large trees should not be 
allowed to grow with spice trees, as they would ex- 
clude the vivifying rays of the sun and arrest the fall 
of the night dews, which are necessary for quantity as 
well as quality of the nutmegs. Large trees would 
also rob the soil of its richness. A double row of cas- 
suarina littorea and cerbera manghas planted at the 
windward side of the plantations will afl*ord ample 
shade and protection from the winds, and trees with 
these advantages will give good crops. 

Plants are raised from the largest, round, fresh nuts 
before they will rattle in the shell, care being taken that 
they are not more than two months old. They may be 
planted and staked in the field intended for the planta- 
tion, about eight feet apart. If they are kept well 
watered and manured, such planting is preferred to 
sowing in a nursery. Plants raised in a nursery are 
usually sown in bottomless baskets about one inch be- 
low the surface in a place well sheltered from the winds. 

The nurseries must be kept free from weeds and well 

[ 138 ] 



watered every day in dry weather, especially when the 
seeds are planted in bamboo baskets, for should the 
earth become hard and dry the nuts will not germinate. 
If the land has been well tilled the seedlings will appear 
in about sixty days. When they are from three to 
four feet high they may be transplanted to a permanent 
situation. This should be done during wet weather and 
the trees must be kept well manured. They must be 
watered on alternate days and protected from the 
sun. They must be cultivated for five years. Care 
must be taken not to strike the roots of the tree in culti- 
vating, for if the tap root is broken the tree is sure to 
die. When any roots become exposed they should be cov- 
ered with leaf mold or with dirt mixed with cow manure. 
When well started, the trees should be thinned out, leav- 
ing them from twenty to thirty feet apart, according to 
the richness of the soil; the richer the soil the wider the 
space. Before the transplanting of the seedlings from 
the nursery, holes are first dug and left open for a time 
and filled with surface soil consisting of cow dung 
mixed with burnt earth, but if the ground is very rich 
the manure may be dispensed with. The holes prepared 
in this way give the young plants a good start. The 
trees are planted in prepared holes in the bamboo bas- 
kets as they are taken from the nursery, slit down at 
one side. Banana plants make good shade for young 
trees and return good profit until they have to be cut 
down to give room for the growing tree. When the 
trees are backward in growing they should have extra 
care. The soil about the roots should be loosened and 
manuring should be done with farmyard compost 
lightly scattered around the trees close to the stem, so 
that it may work its way into the soil. To dig holes 
would injure the roots and might cause the tree to die. 
In very dry weather it is well to cover the ground 
around the trees with dry leaves to protect them from 
the sun's rays and to keep the moisture in the ground. 
On poor soil the trees must be kept manured until they 
are fifteen years old. They need as many as ten large 
baskets to a tree. The manure should be at first spread 
in the sunshine to kill all the insects it may contain. 

[ 139 ] 



All parasitic and epiphytic plants which may attach 
themselves to the stem and branches should be removed 
at once, as they would have a most injurious effect. 

The pruning operations are very simple. All suckers 
should be cut away and the lower branches should be 
removed gradually until there is sufficient space for 
working under the trees. The nutmeg trees are mon- 
oecious as well as dioecious. The sex of a tree cannot 
be told until it flowers, which will be in about seven years, 
when, on cutting the flower open longitudinally with a 
sharp pen-knife, the sex may be determined. (See 
illustration.) 

The staminate flowers are from three to five, or some- 
times more, on a peduncle, and the pistillate flowers 
are often solitary, both kinds of flowers being small and 
of a yellow color (without calyx), and the perianth is 
bell-shaped with three or four teeth at the top. 

The anthers are' set around a central column, and if 
the flowers be fully open the yellow pollen may be easily 
seen in the pistillate or female flowers, in the form of a 
little red disk knob. Soon after the fecundation of 
the embryo the female flower drops off* and the little 
knob expands, gradually increasing in growth. 





Fig. A, verticle section of male Fig. B, vertiele section of female 

flowers. flowers. 

It will be noticed that the pistil is shorter than the 
perianth and is swollen at the base and crowned with 
the stigma which is indistinctly cut into lobes. It is a 
good plan to plant two nuts or transplant two seedlings 
in one hole about two feet apart, and when the flowers 
appear it will seldom happen that both trees will be male 
trees. 

After determining the sexes the cutting out of the 
surplus male trees should take place. Those which are 

[ 140 ] 



to remain should be left as much on the windward side 
of the plantation as possible, so that the pollen may be 
carried by the wind to the pistils of the female trees. 
In this respect the parks are similar to our apple 
orchards. If a surplus number of male trees be left 
growing, they are topped, or headed down and grafted 
with scions from the female tree. 

The parkineers* on the Banda Islands do not expect 
a yield above 30 per cent, of male trees from the planted 
seed, and seldom so many, and they think 2 per cent, 
enough male trees to leave growing, while other coun- 
tries look for a yield anywhere from 8 per cent, to 
75 per cent, of male trees, and they estimate one male 
tree to eight or ten female the right proportion. 

The nutmeg tree is a handsome, bushy evergreen 
with straight and lofty undivided trunk, and with red- 
dish-brown bark and verticillate branching head, much 
resembling our apple tree. It is cut back in the Straits 
to about twenty feet. The bark on the young branches 
is bright green, the dark, shining leaves, glossy on the 
upper surface and whitish below, are alternate, simple, 
and entire and oblong and obliptic and very aromatic. 
They are strongly veined, the petiolate being devoid of 
stipules or having very short foot stalks. 

The nutmeg tree will begin to bear when from five 
to six years old and will then produce from five to six 
pounds of nutmegs and half a pound of mace to a tree. 
The yield is more profitable when the tree is ten years old. 
The tree will continue to produce fruit at sixty years 
of age, and has been known to bear a crop when one 
hundred years old. The male tree has a much shorter 
life than the fruit-bearing trees. The flowers are very 
small and are clustered in the axils of the leaves. They 
are a pale yellow and have a fragrance much like that 
of the lily of the valley. 

The nuts will often split before reaching maturity, 
by reason of cold, damp weather and sudden changes. 
The nutmeg tree, hke the orange, is a constant bearer, 
producing two crops in one year, and sometimes three, 



* The parkineers is a term used in the Banda Islands. 

[ 141 ] 



in the East. A much larger crop, however, is harvested 
in the later months of the year, and the smaller crops 
in April, May, and June, and even in July. Some are 
harvested every month of the year, as is the case to some 
extent on the Banda Islands, and they are delivered 
every month to the government boats. But the months 
especially devoted to harvesting are the same on the 
Banda Islands as in the Straits Settlement. From the 
Straits the shipments are made quarterly. 

The nutmeg fruit is about three inches long and about 
two inches in diameter, and is found intermingled 
with the flowers of the tree, it requires from six to nine 
months to mature; fruits all the year around in a hot, 
moist climate. In the Banda Islands the fruit hangs 
upon longer and more slender stalks than is the case 
in the Straits Settlement. The fruit hangs pendulous 
from the tree and is fleshy and firm. At first it is round 
or oval and smooth, much like a damson plum, but it 
soon takes on the marked longitudinal, dented line and 
pale green color — characteristics that give it more the 
appearance of a peach or an apricot. It finally changes 
to a golden or yellow color and to the shape of a pear 
when ripe. This outer covering, which is at first thin, 
gradually grows fleshy, abounding in an astringent mass 
which becomes dry and leathery, at which time it bursts 
open into two valves from the apex, disclosing a brilliant 
scarlet aril or net-like membrane, revealing the nutmeg 
kernel, which is closely invested in a thin brown shell, 
which separates the kernel from the aril or mace which 
envelopes both. 

In the early days the Dutch owned the Banda Islands. 
They attempted to control the nutmeg trade. Accord- 
ingly, they used to heat or lime the kernels before ship- 
ping, to keep them from sprouting and so to prevent 
the propagation of the trees. At one time they burned 
three piles of nutmegs, each as large as a church, to keep 
up the price. But Nature did not fancy this kind of 
business and a large pigeon, called the " nutmeg pig- 
eon," also known by the name of walor and nut eater 
(species of carpophoga), was attracted by the bright 
color of the mace and, feeding on it extensively, swal- 

[ 142 ] 




HARVESTING NUTMEGS 



lowing the mace and rejecting the nutmegs, accom- 
pHshed what the Dutch tried to prevent, by planting the 
nuts in all the surrounding countries of Penang, China, 
Ceylon, and India. Thus the world at large was bene- 
fited. 

The brown shell which covers the nutmeg has about 
one-fourth the weight of the nutmeg kernel. When the 
nutmegs are exported without removing the shell they 
keep better, but the cost of freight to the importers is 
increased. 

The nutmeg fruit includes, first, the outer or fleshy 
membranous part; second, the substance covering the 
inner shell of the nutmeg, known as mace; next, the 
inner shell ; and, finally, the kernel or nutmeg. 

The native women and children gather the fruit twice 
each day, except Sundays, from under the trees and 
carry them into the boucan, barn, or sheds, made of 
brick with terraced roofs, rejecting the outer shell or 
husk. In the Straits Settlement, if the trees are not too 
high (the highest tree not being over thirty-five feet 
on Penang Island) , the nuts are beaten off by means of 
long bamboo poles. In the Banda Islands the fruit is 
gathered by the use of a neat oval bamboo basket, partly 
open at the top, furnished with a couple of prongs. 
With these prongs the harvester catches the fruit stalk 
and by a gentle pull causes the nuts to fall into the 
basket, which will hold three or four. By using this 
method the mace will not be bruised as it would be by 
falling to the ground, and they have a skin more free 
from blemish, and it is thinner compared with the fruit 
and of a well-uniformed proportion. 

The outer shell or husk, which is harder than that of a 
filbert, is removed by one man placing the nuts on a sort 
of a di'um head and another beating them with a flat 
board, a process which will not bruise the nuts. One 
man will beat out as many in this way as six men can 
do in the way which is employed at the Straits. After 
the envelope of the curious, red-colored network (mace) 
is taken off the nutmegs are placed in receptacles which 
have fine wire-mesh bottoms, made of splints, called by 
the natives neebongs, to allow the air to pass through, or, 

[ 143 ] 



by being elevated above each other, they are kept before 
a fire for a month or more, the first elevated being about 
ten feet from the ground. After this they are exposed 
to the sun two hours each day for two or three days until 
they rattle inside the shell when shaken. They cannot 
be removed when green without damage to the nut. 
They are then cracked by beating with great care, as 
hard blows would cause a black spot on the nuts, affect- 
ing the sale. They are then assorted into three grades, 
the finest are exported, the second are reserved for home 
consumption, and the third grade, made up of small, 
damaged, or unrii^e stock, are burned or used for nutmeg 
butter. Nutmegs are often affected by black spots or 
gangrene on the outer covering, caused by an insect, 
which deposits its larvae on it in the husk and feeds on 
the saccharine matter of the outer covering until it 
bursts, when it makes its way into the soft nut itself. 

The number one nutmegs are put up in half piculs 
(heavy-made boxes) containing sixty to sixty-five 
pounds. The ovate nutmeg seed is marked with im- 
pressions like the lobes or arillus (mace) which covers 
it, one side being of a paler hue and slightly flattened, 
and having the shajjc of the outer shell, with correspond- 
ing dimensions in size, the largest being about one inch 
long by eight-tenths of an inch broad. Four such nuts 
will weigh one ounce. They are of a grayish or brown 
color, but they are coarsely furrowed and longitudinally 
veined, and are marked on the flatter side with a shal- 
low groove. 

There are only three kinds of nutmegs generally 
known to the trade. The darker brown, whicli is the 
fruit of the myristica fragrans, is cultivated in Penang 
and is known as the Penang nutmeg. It is exported 
from the city of Penang (Betel-nut City, Fig. 2) . The 
pale-brown, lined, Singapore or Batavian (Fig. 4), is 
named from the city of Batavia, on the Island of Java, 
from which this variety is exported. The long, slender, 
wild nutmegs (Fig. 3) are known as Macassars, from 
the city of Macassar (called by the natives Mangkasara) 
on the Island of Celebes, the principal city of export. 
But the three kinds are distinguished by the planters as 

[ 144 ] 



male or barren; second, the round female (nux myris- 
tica foemina or green) (nux maschata fructo rotundo), 
and the royal. 

The royal nutmeg is no larger than a peanut (nux 
maschata rigia) and produces the long nut which has 
the aril or mace much longer than the nut, while the true 
queen or female, which is the more valuable round 
nutmeg, has its mace extending only half way down 
the nut. 

The average yield at six or seven years, at which time 
the trees begin to bear, is five to six pounds, and a ten- 
year-old tree will produce from ten to fifteen pounds, 
and will cover an area of about five hundred square 
feet. This yield, at forty cents per pound, including the 
mace, would bring $300 per acre, besides the other 
ingredients yielded, which are valuable. The older the 
tree the greater the yield, and, of course, the tree is 
valued accordingly. There is a tree on the Island of 
Jamaica which bears over 4f,000 nutmegs every year. 

Nutmegs vary greatly in size, running from 60 's to 
120's as follows: large, 60's to 80's to the pound; 
medium, 85's to 95's; small, lOO's to 130's. There are 
probably more of the 110 size used than of all other sizes 
combined. Nutmegs are assorted into the several sizes 
found on the market by passing them over different 
mesh sieves. This process is called garbling. 

The Penang nutmeg, the fruit of the myristica 
fragrans, called by the Hindustanee and Bengalee 
jaiphal, or true nutmeg, as its name implies, which is 
the finest, is of a brown color and shaped like a damson 
plum. It is furrowed on the interior and grayish inside, 
with veins of red running through it, and possesses a 
fine, delicate aroma of great strength and flavor. The 
Penang nutmegs are not to be found in the spice-mill 
stock because the poorer Batavia or the wild Macassars 
will grind better, their worm holes will not show in the 
meal, and they are not difiicult to powder. Liming 
nutmegs by the Dutch to prevent their sprouting has 
lead to misunderstanding and many vices. Some think 
limed nutmegs the best, taking them in preference to 
the fine, brown Penang, and are willing to pay higher 

[ 145 ] 



prices for them. Such buyers seem to know nothing 
about the convincing, easy tests that may be made by 
weighing, the pure nutmegs being heavier on account of 
the oil they contain, and by scraping the nut with the 
finger nail to note if the oil starts. 

Although there are only four kinds of nutmegs known 
to the trade there are more than twenty-five (many 
give as many as forty) different varieties. Those 
known to commerce, when found in the order of their 
quality, are as follows : The Penang, of which there were 
exported in 1904, 2,828 piculs, valued at $175,592, 
which are unlimed and are brown; second, Dutch limed 
or Batavians; tliird, Singapore, which are a rougher, 
unlimed, narrower kind, and of somewhat less value 
than the Dutch Batavia; fourth,* "long " or " wild " or 
" male nutmeg," nux myristicamas, Clusius (nux mas- 
chata fructo oblongo C. bouchin), which is the product 
of myristica f atua. In addition to these, we have the 
Malabar, found in the district of Malabar, province of 
Madras, British India, which is the product of myristica 
Malabarica. It resembles a date in size and shape, and 
is closely allied to the long nutmeg, but has less flavor. 
It is called by the Hindustanee and Bengalee jai- 
phal, and those of myristica Malabarica, " ran jaiphal," 
and " ramphal," and in the native Malabar dialect, 
" panam palka," and is largely used as an adulterant 
for powdered true nutmeg. 

The wild nutmeg (myristica argentea) tree grows 
very high with a leaf equal in size to the horse chestnut, 
with a silvery top, and in Germany it is called the " horse 
nutmeg." It is found in New Guinea, Amboina, and 
the Banda Islands. The nuts, when fresh from the 
trees, are about four and one-half centimeters to six 
and one-half centimeters in length, and four and 
one-half centimeters to five and one-half centi- 
meters in diameter. They are first of a bright red, but 
later scattered yellow-brown veins or specks appear 
which contain the aroma. After the husk is removed, 
the nut is about three and one-half to four and one-half 



J. C. Sawyer's Odorographia, Second Series. 

[ 146 ] 







HARBOR OF MACASSAR. CELEBES ISLANDS 




A FOREST 



centimeters long and from two to two and one-half 
centimeters in diameter, and the testa is nearly one 
millimeter thick. They abound in a disagreeable oil, 
which, of course, will rob them of the pleasant nutmeg 
flavor which is found in the cultivated nut. The thick 
pericarp or outer covering is hard and brittle. The mace 
which covered it is insipid, is of a reddish color, has a 
disagreeable odor and it generally consists of four 
stripes which are united above and below. It is broad- 
est at the base, gradually narrowing toward the end. 

The fruit is elongated, or ellipsoidal, rusty, tomentose, 
in shape like a date, and differs from the true nutmeg 
in being less marked by the arillus furrows. The coty- 
ledons are joined in a disc swelled at its edges to five 
millimeters diameter, and the endosperm contains much 
starch. 

Myristica argentea nutmegs are sometimes used medic- 
inally for dysentery, headache, and other ailments, and 
those long nutmegs (male), wild myristica tomentosa 
(myristica fatua) , are next in flavor to the true myristica 
f ragrans, and are the kind sold in the market as Macas- 
sars. Another kind scarcely worthy of mention is the 
myristica succedanea, a variety found on the Island of 
Tidor, which is very similar to the myristica fragrans. 
Other so-called nuts which rarely figure in our market 
except as a substitute to adulterate are the American, 
Jamaicans, or Calabash (monodora myristica), Bra- 
zilian (cryptocarya maschata), Calif ornian or stinking 
(torreya myristica), Madagascar or clove (agathophyl- 
lum aromaticum), Peruvian (laurelia semperviren). 
Plume (atherosperma maschata), Sante Fe (myristica 
otoba) of New Granada and the myristica sebifera 
virola sebifera aublet, the seed of which furnishes an 
abundance of aromatic yellow tallow which has a crys- 
talline appearance and is suitable to manufacture into 
candles. All of these varieties are not much better than 
the wooden nutmegs from the Nutmeg State, or the one 
made by the heathen Chinese out of sawdust and clay. 

Batavia nutmegs are often attacked by beetles or are 
worm eaten. In this case they are pickled in lime water 
made from calcined shell-fish and mixed with water 

[ 147 ] 



until it is of a semi-fluid consistency. Into this mixture 
they plunge the nutmegs ( which have been put in bamboo 
baskets) two or three times until they are completely 
covered with it. Next they are put in heaps and are 
allowed to sweat. After this they are packed in boxes 
or barrels made of the best Java teak for exportation, 
with the worm holes plugged up. Sometimes it is 
thought quite necessary to lime the Batavia nuts (the 
kind most commonly used) before shipping, not only to 
protect them from the ravages of the beetles or worms 
which attack them, but also to prevent germination. 
But it has been proven that this process is perfectly un- 
necessary, as a simple exposure of the nuts to the action 
of the sun is sufficient to destroy the vitality of the 
embryo. It is also proven to be unnecessary, since the 
true brown Penang is shipped without liming. If lime 
is used, however, it should be in a dry state. After all 
that has been said, it is evident that the dealer or the 
consumer must be either foolish or ignorant who will 
reject the fancy, round, brown Penang nutmegs for the 
limed Batavia because it pleases the eye, and will for no 
other reason buy old worm-eaten nuts with plugged- 
up holes, relimed to give them a new appearance. The 
new coat of lime costs but little, but when the case is 
empty there is found from one to two pounds of lime 
in the bottom, not covered by tare, which has cost the 
purchaser the price of good nutmegs. Just so long as 
the trade will demand this class of stock, just so long 
will deception be practiced and inferior stock will be 
found on the market. 

All nutmegs have a market value and must be sold. 
In selecting stock, pick out of a lot the most inferior 
looking nut and cut it into two parts. If it cuts firm like 
wood and has plenty of oil and no worm holes, there is 
not apt to be any danger of inferior nuts in the balance 
of the stock. 

In using nutmegs always grate from the flower end 
instead of the stem end. 

Good, fresh nutmegs cannot be ground by an ordinary 
burr stone, such as is used in spice mills, but must first 
be broken or cracked in a cracking machine. This 

[ 148 ] 



machine consists of a roller provided with coarse teeth 
which revolve through similar stationary teeth, the 
material being retained by a semi-circular perforated 
plate until it is reduced to the size of the perforation 
or about the size of a coffee bean. After this it is pul- 
verized by pounding or by stamps, as they are called, in 
the same way that mustard seed is pulverized. Some- 
times the nuts are extensively mixed with some dry, 
foreign material, in which case they may be ground on 
the burr stone by an experienced miller. One or two 
stamps may be used in powdering nutmegs and mace, 
two being about all one man can well handle. Pow- 
dered nutmegs soon lose their flavor by standing, on 
account of the loss of oil, but as they have the consistency 
of tallow, the flavor is for a time preserved. 

Nutmeg butter or balsam of nutmeg is often obtained 
by powdering the broken nuts, when fresh, to a fine 
powder or paste, and then steaming them for five or 
six hours. The substance is then put into bags, placed 
between heated iron wedges or plates and is subjected 
to a strong pressure, which presses out the fluid (though 
this is sometimes extracted by ether or alcohol), which 
is about 20 to 25 per cent, of the mass. Ten to 12 
per cent, of this fluid is an orange-colored oil, which 
gives it an agreeable odor. When it is cold it becomes 
somewhat spongy and has a marbled or mottled appear- 
ance. It becomes hard with age and is exported in small 
bricks, ten inches by two and one-half inches, wrapped 
in palm leaves. It is known under several names, as 
nutmeg butter, balsam of nutmeg, concrete oil, or the 
mace oil of commerce (French, heurre de mascade; Ger- 
man, masket b utter ^ muskatnussal) , and as Banda soap, 
sometimes made from the distilled nutmeg leaves. It 
has an agreeable odor and a greasy taste, melts at 45 
degrees C, and dissolves in four times its volume of 
warm alcohol, 8 per cent, pure, or in two parts warm 
ether. The Banda soap is soft to the touch, has a yellow 
color, and is sometimes counterfeited by using a for- 
eign fatty substance, as palm oil, suet, wax, and animal 
fat, boiled with powdered nutmeg and flavored with 
sassafras, which gives it the right color and flavor. The 

[ 149 ] 



best nutmeg oil is imported from India, often adulter- 
ated by the distillation of the leaves of the eucalyphus 
alba, which has a nutmeg odor and flavor. The fleshy 
part of the nutmeg fruit is often preserved in sugar and 
eaten as sweetmeats. 

London's annual import of nutmegs is 400,000 to 
800,000 pounds, and of mace from 60,000 to 80,000 
pounds. An amusing incident is told of an English 
governor sent to the Isle of Ceylon who, noting the 
statistics that nutmegs were very abundant and cheap, 
and mace was scarce and high, called his council together 
and said: " We must raise less nutmegs and more mace." 

The tissue of the seed can be cut with equal facility in 
any direction. By the microscopic study of a transverse 
section of a cut nutmeg we find the testa consists mainly 
of long, thin, radially arranged, rigid cells, which are 
closely interlaced and do not exhibit any distinct cavities. 
The endopleora, which forms the adhering coat of the 
kernel and penetrates into it, consists of soft-walled, 
red-brown tissue, with small scattered bundles of vessels, 
thereby imparting the peculiar marbled appearance so 
familiar in a cut nutmeg. In the outer layer the endo- 
pleora exhibits small collapsed cells, but the tissue which 
fills the folds that dip into the interior consists of much 
larger cells. The tissue of the albumen is formed of 
soft-walled parenchyma which is densly filled with con- 
spicuous starch grains and with fat partly crystallized. 
Among the prismatic crystals of fat, large, thick, rhom- 
bic or six-sided tables may often be observed. W^ith 
these are associated grains of albuminoid matter, partly 
crystallized. 

In carefully made preparations from the whole 
nutmeg, the structure above described may be made out 
by care and patience, but in the ground only the interior 
parenchyma cells with their starch contents can be seen 
when mounted in water, with the alternate use of com- 
mon and polarized light. The fatty crystals are not 
observed and the fragments of the endopleora, or red- 
brown tissue, are only detected by their colors. 

In chloral-hydrate the starch cells and grains are 
swollen, but the red-brown tissue is much more trans- 

[ 150 ] 



parent, sufficiently so, in fact, to reveal any differences 
between it and any adulterant which might bear a resem- 
blance. There are but few bundles of fibers to be found, 
and the structure as a whole will be found so simple that 
the addition of any foreign material can be readily 
detected. 

The nutmeg owes its flavor and aroma to the oil it 
contains, which is soluble in alcohol and may be obtained 
by distillation of the pulverized nuts, the yield being 
from 8 to 10 per cent. The oil is straw colored, with a 
specific gravity of 0.093, consisting principally of a 
hydrocarbon, C10H16, boiling at 165 degrees C. This 
appears by research to be a mixture of at least two 
hydrocarbons — one a terpene, boiling at 163 degrees; 
the other, ordinary cymene, the cymene being extracted 
by treating the mixture of hydrocarbons with sulphuric 
acid, whereby the terpene becomes resinized and, on dis- 
tillation with water, the cymene passes over unaltered; 
when purified, this was found to be identical with all the 
other known cymenes. 

Oil of nutmegs also contains an oxygenated constitu- 
ent, termed myristicol, whose assigned formula is 
C10H14O, boiling near 212 degrees. Examined by po- 
larized light in a 200-millimeter tube, oil of nutmeg, dis- 
tilled, was found to deviate the ray 15.3 degrees to the 
right, and oil of long nutmeg 28.7 degrees to the right. 

A more minute analysis might be given, but enough 
has been said to meet all requirements for distinguish- 
ing between the pure and the adulterated nutmegs. To 
add more might be confusing, and, since at present nut- 
megs are almost entirely sold whole and grated in the 
kitchen, attempts at adulteration have been very few. 

Chemical composition of nutmegs : 

Water, 6.08 

Ash, 3.27 

VolatUe Oil, . . . . 2.84 

Fixed Oii or Fat, . . 34.37 



Starch, etc., . 


. . 36.98 


Crude Fiber, . 


. . 11.30 


Albuminoids, . 


. . 5.16 


Nitrogen, . 


. . .83 



[ 151 ] 



CHAPTER XIII 

MACE 

With your colors shining bright, 
You stopped the pigeons in their flight; 
From Dutchmen's fields they planted seed, 
Which brought forth wealth in time of need. 

A LTHOUGH nutmegs and mace are the fruit of 
/\ the same tree, and although they have similar prop- 
erties, they are yet so different in growth and flavor 
as to justify giving to them separate chapters. 

The fleshy scarlet mantle or ariUus which envelopes 
the nutmeg (illustration under nutmeg), or the coat 
between the outside pericarp and the seed of the nutmeg, 
is called mace (Latin, Macis; French, Macis; German, 
Maker) . It is not a continuous coat, but a network which 
varies in amount in difl*erent localities, as well as on the 
several species of nuts, being from 0.25 per cent, in the 
Bandas to 10 per cent, in Jamaica. It would, therefore, 
require from ten to 400 pounds of nutmegs to produce 
one pound of mace. 

Planchon says of this laciniate envelope that it is noth- 
ing more than an expansion of the exostome and, there- 
fore, an arillode or false aril. 

Mace is harvested at the same time as the nutmegs 
and sometimes it is removed from the nutmeg by scrap- 
ing with a knife, but removing it by hand is considered 
the better way. This is done by commencing at the base 
of the nut, for the reason that there the interlacing or 
lining becomes more expanded and at the same time 
flattened. In this condition it is placed on mats or trays 
to dry in the sunshine. The modern drier, however, is 
now largely used and is preferable, even when the 
weather is clear for a sufficient time to cure the mace, as 
sunshine seems to absorb some of its substantial 
qualities. The modern drier also prevents it from dry- 
ing too rapidly. Mace, in drying, is first crimson, then 

[ 152 ] 



blood red, but in process of drying it loses this tinge, and 
after a few months, when properly cured, it is of a yel- 
lowish or golden-brown color, preferred by the dealers. 
It is then firmly packed in bags (called by the Germans 
in the Straits Settlements, sok kols) . The Banda mace 
is usually packed in one-half piculs of sixty-five pounds 
and in barrels or casks containing about 280 pounds 
each, the pressure being about equal to the weight of 
the mace. When driers are not used and the weather 
is wet, mace is dried by being smoked, care being taken 
not to blacken it. Sometimes the base of the mace is 
cut off and it is dried in double layers — a process which 
many think has a tendency to keep worms from working 
into it, but this is not true, as it, instead, furnishes a place 
in which they can hide. 

True mace is the product of the true nutmeg, which 
is round and covered with single and double blades of 
flat and somewhat irregular smooth slits. These are 
slightly flexible or brittle membrane of a golden-yellow 
color, and, in the odor and taste, analogous to the odor 
and taste of the nutmeg. They are rich in fixed and 
essential oils and in aroma. While each is a part of 
the same fruit, the nutmeg and mace are entirely difl'er- 
ent in outward appearance and are separated for com- 
mercial purposes, as well as for their separate uses. 

The Penang mace is most esteemed because it is flaxy 
and spreads. Penang exported 1,143 piculs, valued at 
$105,032, in 1904. The Dutch or Batavian is more 
fleshy and cheaper. The Singapore is inferior to both 
the Penang and the Dutch, while the wild or false mace 
from the long nutmegs is dark red and has a coarse, 
strong flavor, which is very difl*erent from that of the 
true mace. 

*Myristica Malabarica, known under the name of 
Bombay mace, used to adulterate the true powdered 
mace, is much larger and more cylindrical than the 
arillus of the true nutmeg and has several flaps united 
at the apex, forming a conical structure. The ana- 
tomical structure is also different, as may be seen by 



* Tamk Bedd, G. L., Sylv. t269; Rheede, Hort., M21, iv, t5. 

[ 153 ] 



the aid of a microscope. When moistened with hydro- 
chloric acid, the Bombay mace presents the marked 
pecuHarity of assuming a greenish color. Bombay mace 
may be detected by boiling the suspected samples with 
alcohol and filtering through a white filter; if the mace 
is pure the filter is stained a faint yellow, but if Bombay 
mace is present the filter, especially the edge, is colored 
red. A rather more delicate test is to add " Goulard's "* 
extract to the alcoholic filtrate; with pure mace only a 
white turbidity is occasioned, but when Bombay mace 
is present a red turbidity is obtained. The reaction 
given by tumeric is similar, but it may be distinguished 
from that of Bombay mace in the following manner: 
A strip of filter paper is saturated with the alcoholic 
solution, the excess of fluid removed, and the strips 
drawn through a cold, saturated solution of boric acid. 
When Bombay mace is present the paper remains un- 
changed, but in the presence of tumeric it turns orange 
brown. If a drop of potassium-hydrate solution is 
now placed on the strip of paper, it causes a blue ring 
if tumeric be present, and a red ring if the adulterant 
is Bombay mace. 

The myristica argentea produces a dirty-brown col- 
ored mace, and the arillus generally consists of four 
broad stripes which are united above and below. In 
selecting mace care should be taken to select the orange- 
colored with a transparent-like appearance. When it 
has a tendency to crumble to dust it is considered of 
poor quality. Dull-looking parcels should be avoided, 
as such is never genuine mace, but is obtained from con- 
crete virtue or expressed oil of bruised or broken nut- 
megs. 

Although pure mace has a flavor quite similar to that 
of the nutmeg, it has a peculiarity of its own which most 
people prefer. It is extensively used for medicinal pur- 
poses. 

Ground mace, which is powdered by stamps or by 
pounding, the same as nutmegs or mustard, loses its 
flavor very rapidly and when distilled yields a reddish, 



Pharmacographia Indica. 

[ 154 ] 



buttery oil, which can be obtained by process of distil- 
lation. This oil is strong and volatile and contains an 
oxygenated body, the properties of which have not been 
determined. This buttery oil, mixed with other sub- 
stances, is known as nutmeg balsam. (See nutmegs.) 

The uniform, small-celled, angular parenchyma of 
mace contains numerous brown cells of large size and 
the inner parts contain thin, brown vascular bundles. 
The cells of the epidermis on either side are colorless, 
containing thick walls, longitudinally extended, and 
covered with a peculiar cuticle of broad, flat, ribbon-like 
cells as a continuous film which cannot be removed. 
The parenchyma also contains many small granules to 
which a red color is imparted by means of a solution of 
meracious nitrate and an orange hue by use of iodine. 
This result shows that they consist of albuminous matter 
without starch. 

The chemical characteristics are so marked and the 
structure is so closely carried out that the adulteration of 
ground mace is very easily detected. 

All the details of structure in the ground powder of 
mace are readily made out by chloral-hydrate prepara- 
tion with the polarized light, as the brown vascular 
bundles, the ribbon-like and epidermal cells are all polar- 
izing substances, while the large mass of granular par- 
enchymous cells are not. The ribbon-like cells are par- 
ticularly interesting in the varied forms they assume. 

THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF MACE 

The nature of the principal constituent of mace can 
be found from the following experiments: 

Seventeen grammes of finely pulverized mace were 
entirely exhausted by boiling ether and the solvent left 
to spontaneous evaporations. The residue, amounting 
to 5.57 grammes after dessications at 100 degrees C, 
was reduced in weight to 4.17, the loss 1.40 grammes 
being the essential oil, which was 8.2 per cent. The resi- 
due, amounting to 24.5 per cent., was thick, aromatic 
balsam in which we can find no trace or presence of fat, 
but, instead, it consisted of resin and semi-resinified 
aromatic oil. Alcohol extracts from this 1.4 per cent. 

[ 155 ] 



of uncrystallizable sugar, which may be reduced by 
cupric oxide. The drug after this treatment with alco- 
hol and ether yields scarcely anything to cold water, but 
boiling water extracts 1.8 per cent, of mucilage, which 
takes a blue color if treated with iodine, or a reddish- 
violet if previously dried. This test shows that it has 
qualities quite different from those of nutmegs. This 
substance is not soluble in an ammoniacal solution of 
cupric oxide ; it seems rather to be an intermediary body 
between gum and starch, and may be called amylo- 
dextrin.* It is distinguished from the true starch by 
being stained reddish brown instead of blue by an aque- 
ous solution of iodine; the grains of amylodextrin* do 
not appear to contain even a nucleus of starch. As seen 
under the microscope, they have usually somewhat the 
form of a rod and are often curved or coiled; less often 
they are roundish or disc-shaped; they do not usually 
exhibit any evident stratification. 
Chemical composition: 

Water, 5.67 

Ash, 4.10 

Volatile Oil, .... 4.04 

Resin, 27.50 

The city of Macassar, Celebes, exported during the 
first nine months of the year 1905, $4,520.61 worth of 
mace; and Padang, Sumatra, exported $1,617.17 during 
the same time. The city of Singapore exported $22,- 
710.12 worth during the year 1904. 



Undetermined, . 


. 41.17 


Crude Fiber, . 


. 8.93 


Albuminoids, . 


4.55 


Nitrogen, . 


.73 



Amyloeeous, starchy. 



[ 156 ] 




MUSTARD 

1 Flowering: stem with leaves 

2 Flower 

5 Black seed 



3 Pod 

4 Yellow seed 



CHAPTER XIV 

MUSTARD 

You are an appetizer prime, 
And a friend in time of pain. 
What did they do without you, pray, 
Before Old Lady Clements' time? 

FRENCH, Moutarde; German, Senf; Portuguese, 
Mustarda; Spanish, Maszaza. 

The mustard of commerce is the seed, whole or 
powdered, of the several species of the genus brassica 
(or sinapis) of the mustard family. They are (cru- 
ciferous ) plants which grow wild, or cinnamon charlock, 
and are cultivated under various conditions. 

Mustard dates back through a number of centuries, 
and the mustard tree, spoken of in Luke XIII, 19, which 
attains a height of ten or even fifteen feet in Palestine, 
was probably the true mustard, brassica (sinapis) nigra, 
according to Ragle and others. The tree meant is 
Salvadora Persica, a small tree bearing minute berries 
with pungent seeds which bear the name in Arabic of 
mustard. Hippocrates used it in medicine under the 
name of vanuit. 

In the time of Queen Elizabeth, the Dutch were 
employed to throw out the earth from the eighty- foot 
dyke to drain the farms of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and 
Cambridgeshire, which were covered with water and 
had been the habitation of wild fowls. This dirt was 
found to contain small brown seeds which, on being 
exposed to the sun and air, sprouted and grew into 
plants, producing a yellow blossom which proved to be 
mustard. 

The two common varieties are the black or brown 
mustard, known as (brassica sinapis nigra), and the 
white seed, as it is called, although of a yellow color 
(brassica sinapis alba), usually found in whole mixed 
spices. The Indian wild brown mustard seed (rai or 

[ 157 ] 



charlock juncea Sarepta brassica), taking the name 
Sarepta from the city of that name in Russia, in the 
government of Saratov, is sometimes offered as the black 
mustard. Sinapis glauca and sinapis ramosa yield a 
white seed found in South Russia and in the steppes 
northeast of the Caspian Sea. Mustard is known by 
every farmer and is an annual herb (see illustration), 
from three to six feet high, with lyrate leaves, yellowish 
flower, and slender pods containing round seed; it may 
be grown almost anywhere. 

As only a few kinds of mustard seed are known to 
commerce, we will confine our history principally to 
the black seed, which is yellow within (brassica nigra), 
and which furnishes the most aroma. The seeds are very 
small and do not weigh more than one-fiftieth of a grain, 
while the seed of brassica alba, or the white seed, as it is 
called, is three times as large as the black. 

Mustard seed is found in almost all of Europe, except 
the most northern part, in Northern Africa, Asia Minor, 
the United States, Mesapotamia, the West Indies, 
South Siberia, and China. It is naturalized in North 
and South America, and is cultivated to a great extent 
in Bohemia, Holland, and Italy, and in Lincolnshire 
and Yorkshire, England. It is generally put up for 
market in bags of 200 pounds each. Much of the black 
seed (Fig. 5) comes from California, and is brought 
to the Eastern market by railroads; much comes also 
from Kentucky. Each of these States produce large 
crops, and the New York Spice Mills use large quanti- 
ties of it on account of its being cheaper than the 
imported. It does not contain as much flour as the yel- 
low seed, but it is sweeter. The best dark seed comes 
from Italy and is exported from the city of Trieste, 
Austria, and is called Trieste mustard. (See illustra- 
tion.) It is often sent by the Mediterranean Sea to 
London, and from there is transferred to New York 
vessels, although some comes direct from Bombay and 
Sicily. 

The yellow or large, plump, straw-colored, rough, 
hairy seed (Fig. 5) is much less remunerative than the 
black, smooth seed; is white inside, and, though a native 

[ 158 ] 




TRIESTE, AUSTRIA 



of Asia, is found in Russia and Africa. The best of 
it comes from England, and is often called English mus- 
tard. 

The Dutch seed is considered next grade in quality 
to the English. In China and some parts of Europe a 
species is cultivated for greens for the table, which are 
prepared in the same way as spinach. 

The great aim of the grower is to produce reddish- 
brown seed, without any intermixture of gray. The 
gray color of the seed is attributed to the influence of 
the rains during the ripening. The presence of this 
color greatly lowers the value of the seed. 

The crop requires very little tillage. The seed is sown 
broadcast, in the month of April, at the rate of one 
bushel to an acre. The harvesting will take place in 
June and July. The land is sufficiently seeded to pro- 
duce two crops, which are sometimes gathered in 
one year. A yield of forty bushels to an acre is 
not uncommon. The seed weighs sixty pounds to the 
bushel. 

Mustard was first introduced as a table condiment in 
the year 1720 by an old lady named Clements, residing 
in Durham. It is from this fact that the weU-known 
Durham mustard takes its name. She prepared it in 
a crude form by grinding the seed in a small hand mill. 
The product was nothing more than the crushed seed. 
This was passed through mesh sieves to separate the bran 
from the husk. The secret of this process she kept for 
many years. 

Mustard was used as a medicine by the ancients and 
is spoken of in history by Theophrastus and Galen and 
others. Its use as a condiment is spoken of by Shakes- 
peare in " Taming of the Shrew," Act IV, Scene III. 
The mustard which was made in the time of King 
George, who gave it his approval, was made from the 
wild charlock S. arvensis and was prepared by Lady 
Clements. 

But as manufacturing gradually developed, in order 
to cater to public taste, the seed meal has been changed 
to the genuine mustard of to-day, which is the farina 
or flour of the black or white mustard seed, made from 

[ 159 ] 



the interior of the seed, which is separated from the 
outer coat or shell. 

Mustard seed contains so much oil that it cannot be 
ground on common burr stones. It is prepared for 
market by first passing it through a winnowing machine 
to remove the dust and any other foreign material; it 
is next crushed by passing it between rollers; then it is 
placed in silk bags made for that purpose, and the vola- 
tile oil is extracted by hydraulic pressure. After the 
cake is dried it is put into pots and is stamped or 
pounded by a system of battery pounding, or by means 
of roller mills, in which the pounders vary in number 
from two to four, eight, twelve, or sixteen. The pound- 
ing or stamping continues until the cake is reduced to 
the consistency of soft middlings, or to the required 
powder. It is next scooped out into a trough and more 
cake is put into the pots. The stamping continues until 
all the cake is used up. Then it is scooped for bolting on 
sieves made of silk cloth of fine or coarse mesh, as 
required, which are set in frames and given a shaking 
motion by an upright shaft, the meal falling into a 
receptacle below. The quality of powdered mustard 
varies much, according to the quality of the mustard 
seed. Prime seed yields 50 to 60 per cent, of flour, and 
poor seed will run as low as 28 per cent. It does not 
pay to prepare poor seed, as the time lost in its prepara- 
tion would not make up for the cheapness of it. 

The operation of properly reducing mustard seed 
requires expert handling, and it can easily be ruined by 
incompetent operators. More than 50 or 60 per cent, 
of meal might be taken out at the first sifting, but to 
do so the bran would have to be chopped up so fine that 
some would pass through the sieve and spoil the appear- 
ance of the flour. The flour which is taken out at the 
first sifting is caUed superfine. If no more could be 
obtained from the seed than the superfine flour, it is 
very clear that the mustard flour would cost nearly or 
quite twice as much as the cake, with all the labor added. 
But to save this extra cost the miller often adds to the 
remaining bran or tailings an equal quantity of good 
wheat flour, and also 1 per cent, of good Cayenne pep- 

[ 160 ] 



per, and sufficient color (tumeric) to give the same tinge 
as that of pure mustard. Pound this as before and by 
the same process, the flour remaining is separated from 
the bran and united with the wheat flour. In passing 
through the sieve, 75 per cent, of the compound may be 
extracted. This product, which is better than most of 
the adulterated, is called fine. Nearly all of the wheat 
flour will pass through the sieves, and about 25 per cent, 
of the mustard and this 25 per cent, of bran is treated 
as before. As the wheat flour is increased, the 
hulls or bran will be less apt to aff'ect the 
appearance of the mustard. This is called seconds. 
It is admitted that much of the good property of the 
mustard is in the bran, and, after all, it is only neces- 
sary to extract it to satisfy a popular prejudice as to what 
a fine, yellow color pure mustard ought to have. This 
notion is often wrong, just as coloring butter to please 
the eyes is wrong. These mixtures may all be mixed 
and powdered together, if rightly colored, and again 
bolted to make various grades, or, with experience in 
the use of a mill and an acquaintance with the nature of 
the particular kind of seed or the quality of the pressed 
cake, it may be powdered from the start, if sufficient 
adulteration is added to the cake. Thus a grade com- 
bining all the qualities may be made at one operation. 
This process reduces the labor to a minimum. After 
the sifting is completed there will remain a residue in 
the sieves, which is called dressing. This is used in wet 
mustard or French mustard, as it is known to the con- 
sumer. It is sometimes used by pickle manufacturers. 

WET MUSTARD OR FRENCH MUSTARD 

Consists of a compound of crushed mustard seed and 
vinegar, the seed having been passed between rollers 
and then washed into a cask or vat. With it there is 
often mixed garlic and such spice or flavoring material 
as the fancy or experience of the manufacturer will 
determine. This compound is ground two t)r three 
times through a stone mill or through a line of several 
mills, the material being fed from one to the other until 
it is received in a final reservoir, from which it is put 

[ i6i ] 



up in bottles. It is of a consistency of paste, which 
contains all the mustard, the oil, the flour, and the bran. 
It may be compounded with an indefinite variety of 
material, and the refuse bran of dry mustard may also be 
added. Its use is steadily increasing, and a very satis- 
factory article may be made at home by thoroughly 
pounding the seed and mixing it with good vinegar. In 
this way the maker can be sure that his compound has 
the virtue of purity and also of cheapness. 

As the fixed oil has no pungency or mustard taste, it 
adds nothing to the flavor of the flour, but, instead, 
injures its keeping qualities, and, if left in, makes the 
seed very difficult to be pulverized. It is used as a salad 
and there is a ready market for it, as there is a great 
demand for it by the Jewish people. 

Since hydraulic presses are expensive, costing from 
$2,000 to $4,000 each, but a small number of the spice 
millers press their own mustard seed. They either buy 
the mustard cake, which has been prepared by special 
mustard mills, or buy the pure or adulterated flour, 
already prepared for the market. 

Some spice millers are suspicious of the cake, fearing 
it may be adulterated or be made up of partially poor 
seed, or of the refuse of previous workings, and they 
have good reasons for their fears, as such adulteration 
might occur, but as the pure article is to be judged by 
the flavor and pungency it may possess, it is as easy to 
test the cake as the seed. 

Mustard is not onlj^ very popular as a condiment but 
is a medicinal rubefacient, as it has many stimulating 
properties. The use of mustard plasters every house- 
hold is familiar with; mustard also promotes digestion, 
and it is a splendid emetic in case of poisoning. 

A good story is told of a quack doctor who advertised 
electric belts for sale. He had received many testi- 
monials from those who had bought them, his patrons 
speaking very highly of the benefit they had received 
from their use, but as the belts became worn and were 
ripped open it was found that the electricity they con- 
tained was made up of mustard flour. 

In the ground mustard or mustard meal, as has been 

[ 162 ] 



explained, we Imve only the interior of the seed, with 
the exception of the few small portions of the husk, 
which may have escaped in the operation of bolting. 
The presence of these fragments enables us to recog- 
nize the source from which the flour is derived, and also 
to detect the use of mustard hulls as an adulterant of 
other food materials. 

The farina or black and white mustard differs but 
httle in appearance. The brown, however, is slightly 
darker. The outer colorous epidermis consists of angu- 
lar plates, or hexagonal tabular cells, with a center of 
different brilliancy. It swells up and becomes slimy 
in water, and, therefore, must be observed in glycerine. 
At the best it requires some manipulation to see it well, 
and it is far less prominent in the black seed. 

The next coat, denominated the subepidermal, is not 
prominent and can only be seen at all easily in the white 
seed. 

The third layer is an important one, and in it is found 
the coloring matter of the brown seed. Its absence 
is the cause of the lack of color in the white variety. 
By this layer one is able to tell whether the flour is a 
mixture of both the black and white seed or if it is 
derived from one only. Fragments of this layer are 
conmion in powdered mustard. It is distinguished by 
the thick or colorless brown cell walls and their irregular 
dotted appearance. Between the third and second 
layers are numerous cells containing some color in the 
brown seed, but of little importance. Within these 
comes the important layer, denominated the inner tunic 
or plasma layer. It separates readily from the other 
parts of the husk and is often found by itself in the 
powdered mustard. As its contents are broken up by 
water or chloral-hydrate, it is necessary to use glycerine 
or oil in mounting. 

The cells and their contents of this layer are large 
and much alike in both the black and white seed. The 
interior of the mustard seed is made up of small, soft 
parenchyma cells, containing the oil and the other con- 
stituents of the mustard, but without any trace of starch 
— a fact which makes adulterations easily detected. 

[ 163 ] 



The peculiar pungency and odor of the black seed are 
due to an essential or fixed oil, myronic acid, which 
is developed by the action of cold water (hot water will 
not answer) on two peculiar chemical substances which 
it contains, which form a compound, termed by the dis- 
coverers myronate of potash, but since called synanthrin, 
an acid with formula C10H19NS2O10. This acid is con- 
verted into the volatile oil of mustard or sulphocyanide 
of allyl C4H5NS, or ^,^,\S. Through the agency of 
the myrosin, another constituent of brown seed, when 
the two are brought in contact through the medium of 
water, we have vegetable albumen, a bitter principle, a 
httle gum and sugar, and a peculiar green substance, 
cellulose, and mineral water, called sulphocyanide of 
sinapine.* The aqueous extract of yellow mustard seed 
yields with a solution of ferric chloride a deep, blood- 
red coloration, which is scarcely perceptible with similar 
extract of black mustard. The aqueous extract of white 
mustard acquires a powerful odor of sulphurated hydro- 
gen in a few hours, Vvhile that of the black seed smells 
only of the pungent mustard oil. 

White mustard seed contains from 25 per cent, to 
35 per cent, of an inodorous fixed oil with a little ten- 
dency to become rancid and of little pungency, which 
it will not give up in water. In place of myronic acid 
converted into volatile oil of mustard, it contains a non- 
volatile, bitter and acrid salt termed sulphocyanide of 
sinapine (C17H24N2SO5 or C16H23NO5CNHS), myro- 
sin gum cellulose and mineral matter. Now, as it is on 
the volatile oil and the acrid and somewhat bitter salt 
that the pungency and acridity of mustard depend, we 
can see a strong reason why in the mustard of commerce 
the farina of the two species, black and white seed, 
should be blended together, in the proportion of two 
parts of white to one of black. The black seed does 
contain some of the acrid principle as well as the volatile 
oil, as has been verified by the action of nitric acid, caus- 
tic potash, and ferric chloride, on the alcoholic extract. 
It is, therefore, the most valuable of the two seeds on 



* Sinapaline sinealine. 

[ 164 ] 



account of the little volatile oil in the yellow seed. The 
acrid principle of white mustard appears to possess but 
little stabihty, although it has been said to bear a tem- 
perature of 130 degrees C. We find that it is readily 
affected by heat and that it is not safe to evaporate 
the alcoholic solution containing it at a higher temper- 
ature than about 30 degrees C, for, if subjected to a 
much higher temperature, it quickly loses its acridity 
and acquires a bitter, caramel-like taste. 

The oil extracted by ether from the brown seed is of 
a bright and beautiful emerald-green color, owing to the 
peculiar green principle described as one of its constitu- 
ents. So deep and remarkable is the color of the oil 
that it would be easy by means of a graduated scale 
of tints to determine with very tolerable certainty the 
percentage of brown mustard contained in any sample 
of mixed mustard. Specific gravity, 1.017; boils at 148 
degrees. 

Myronate of potash decomposes under the influence 
of the nitrogenous matter contained in brown mustard 
into volatile oil, glucose, and acid sulphate of potash. 
The quantity of each of these products of decomposi- 
tion gives, therefore, by simple calculation, the quantity 
of myronic acid; one hundred parts of this acid yield 
23.85 parts of volatile oil. 

Place forty to fifty grammes of mustard farina in a 
flask of about one-half liter capacity; 250 cubic centi- 
meters of tepid water should be poured over it, then 
close the flask with a cork and shake well. After twen- 
ty-four hours' standing connect the flask with a Liebig's 
condenser and heat to boiling. Pour thirty cubic centi- 
meters strong ammonia into the receiver, the end of 
the condenser being dipped below the surface of the 
liquid. Water and the volatile oil will pass over, the oil 
at first floating in the shape of oily drops on the surface 
of the liquid, which soon sinks to the bottom, especially 
when the liquid is gently agitated. When no more oil 
globules pass over, the distillation has finished. The 
receiver should be closed with a cork and allowed to 
stand twenty- four hours; at the end of this time all the 
oil will be dissolved and is now contained in the liquid in 

[ 165 ] 



the form of thiosinamine (C4H8N2). This solution is 
evaporated on the water bath in a weighed platinum 
basin, the residue dried and weighed, and the quantity 
of thiosinamine obtained, minus one molecule of am- 
monia, represents the amoimt of volatile oil. To esti- 
mate the amount of myrosin or albumen and sulpho- 
cyanide of sinapine, the amount of nitrogen and sul- 
phur in the mustard should first be obtained, the former 
by combustion with soda lime in the well-known manner, 
and the latter by deflagration of the mustard and oxida- 
tion of its sulphur in a mixture of nitrate of soda arxd 
carbonate of potash. First, dissolve the mass in water 
or diluted acid, and the sulphuric acid contained in 
the solution is estimated by means of chloride of barium, 
and, from this data the amount of the myrosin and of the 
sulphocyanide of sinapine, the acrid principle is calcu- 
lated. As much sulphur and nitrogen are first deducted 
from the totals of these substances obtained as is con- 
tained in the quantity of myronic acid previously deter- 
mined. 

Next, the whole remaining sulphur, and as much of 
the nitrogen as is required, are estimated in the acrid 
principle, and, lastly, the surplus nitrogen is calculated 
into myrosin, which has the same formula as vegetable 
albumen. But now, having the amount of the acrid 
principle and of the myrosin, a further calculation has to 
be made, since myrosin contains about 1 per cent, of 
sulphur, and this can be deducted from the total acrid 
principle, a corresponding quantity of nitrogen being 
in turn calculated into myrosin. 

Chemical composition of white mustard : 



Moisture, 9-32 Albuminoids, 

with variations Myrosin Albumin, 

Fat, 25.56 Soluble Matter, . 

Cellulose, 10.52 Volatile Oil, . . 

Sulphur, 0.99 Ash, .... 

Nitrogen, 4.54 Soluble, 



28.37 
5.24 

27.38 
.006 
4.57 
0.55 



[ 166 ] 



Chemical composition of brown mustard seed: 

Moisture, 8.52 Sulphur, 1.28 

Fat, 25.54 Ash, 4.98 

Cellulose, 9.01 Fixed Oil, . . . .36.00 

Albuminoids, .... 25.50 Volatile Oil, .... 0.473 

Myrosin and Albumen, . 5.24 Potassium Myronate, . I.692 

Soluble Matter, . . . 24.22 Soluble, l.U 

Nitrogen, 4.38 with some variations 

Mustard is, no doubt, adulterated more than any other 
of the condiments, unless it be black pepper. Tumeric 
is the great agent used to bring out the desired color in 
the adulteration, and Cayenne pepper is used to give It 
a tonic flavor. In fact, tumeric has been so extensively 
used in adulterating the mustard flour that many con- 
sumers have become so accustomed to it that, in judging 
the prepared mustard meal with the eye, they prefer it 
on account of its yeUow color to the genuine mustard. 
It is claimed by some that tumeric is desirable in toning 
down the pungency of mustard and in adding to its 
keeping quality, but if it was too pungent more yellow 
seed might be used in place of an admixture. Tumeric 
is treated more as a constituent of the mustard than as a 
foreign substance — a fact which makes it appear almost 
a commercial necessity. This should not be allowed. 

The natural color of a pure meal is grayish or ashen, 
more like that of corn meal, and accordingly corn 
meal is considered a very good article to use as an adul- 
terant; turnip, radish, and rape seed, and broken crack- 
ers are also often used. They are mixed with mustard 
seed and milled with it to increase the bulk and obtain 
more value from the cake. 

Tumeric, whose coloring matter is called curcumin, 
is a root containing starch. It resembles ginger and is 
ground in the same way as ginger. It is more gener- 
ally used in preference to ocher or yellow earth. As 
mustard flour does not contain any starch, the fraudu- 
lent tumeric and starch are readily detected in the farina 
by the use of iodine and ammonia. Place a little of the 
suspected sample, which has been previously heated and 
afterwards allowed to cool, on a piece of glass and add 
the ammonia or iodine, when the brown coloring prin- 

[ 167 ] 



ciple of the tumeric will be brought out. It may also 
be detected by its action with borax or boric acid and 
Martin yellow (dinitronapthol) by the use of 95 per 
cent, of alcohol. If capsicum be present the test would 
best be observed by treating the dry mustard with strong 
alcohol by percolation, which would develop the peculiar 
pungency of the capsicum when concentrated. The 
microscope is the best aid to detect it. Wheat flour, if 
used to adulterate, contains but 1.2 to 2.1 per cent., and 
reduces the natural yellow color of mustard, which must 
then be toned up with tumeric or some other coloring 
matter. 

In the discussion of the analysis of mustard seed we 
may add that the flour is fairly constant in its composi- 
tion ; water is present in small amounts, varying between 
3 and 7 per cent.; ash varies between 4 and 
6 per cent., and so foreign mineral matter is easily 
detected. Volatile oil is present in the seed in small 
amounts, varying from 2.06 in one to as little as 0.55 
in another. Fixed oil is one of the most prominent 
constituents of the seed. It varies in amount from 31 
to 37 per cent. Starch is entirely absent in the whole 
seed. Crude fiber varies, depending on the care and 
method of milling. The amount should not be more 
than 6 to 7 per cent. Albuminoids make up a large 
part of the seed, varying from 25 to 30 per cent. If 
they are below 20 per cent, this fact points to dilution 
with material poor in nitrogen. The undetermined 
matter consists of gum and some unidentified sub- 
stances soluble in alcohol, whose estimation is of no par- 
ticular value, as a means of detecting adulterations. 

As a whole, for general reference, the following table 
may be used : 

to 7 per cent. 

r. to 6 per cent. 

/^ to 2 per cent. 

to 37 per cent., from entire seed 
to 18 per cent., from cake 
e 
to 18 per cent, 
to 32 per cent. 

[ 168 ] 



Water, . . 


3 


Ash, . 


4 


Volatile Oil, 




Fixed Oil, . 


31 


Fixed Oil, 


16 


Starch, . 


No 


Crude Fiber, 


5 


Albuminoids, 


25 




SAGE 

1 Flower 

2 Flower without stamens 



CHAPTER XV 

HERBS 

NEARLY every one is familiar with the subject of 
this chapter. The sweet and aromatic herbs for 
cuhnary purposes are found in both hemispheres, 
and Mttle, therefore, need be said about them. Of those 
who know them, none are better acquainted or more 
famiHar with their use than the farmer's wife. The 
herbs we are to consider are the few having that pecuHar 
property of imparting to fresh meats a flavor, so much 
esteemed, which brings them into general use. They 
are also used for medicinal purposes of which we have 
the following kinds: Sage, marjoram, savory, parsley, 
and thyme. " Herbs to still the summer." " The 
knowledge of stilling is one of pretty feat," but it is 
a lost art. The stilling room was also a drying room, 
and in breezy shadows throughout the long summer 
days were drying leaves and sprigs of many aromatic 
plants. The branches were often made up into small 
bunches, the size to be used for a kettle of soup or for 
the basting of a single roast. " These were the fagots 
of herbs so often ordered in old recipes, and were a not 
unimportant part of household supplies. There is no 
spice comparable for herbs use in rosemary." Pliny 
says that the serpents sought the shade of the fennel to 
strengthen their sight. Culpepper noted the starry in- 
fluence under which each plant grew. 

SAGE 

Sage (Salvia officinalis) is the common sage. Sage, 
sauge, swage, natural order Laminaceoe. 

French, Sauge; Portuguese, Salva; Italian and Latin, 
Salvia, Salvos (Culpepper). It is governed by Mars. 
Salvia, from salvo, to save or heal. The most exten- 
sively used of the herbs is the sage. Its high reputation 
as a medicine lasted for years. The Arabians valued it, 

[ 169 ] 



and the medical school of Salerno summed up its sur- 
passing merits in the line, " Cur morietor homo cui salvia 
cresit in horto? " (How can a man die who grows sage 
in his garden?) Perhaps this originated the English 
saying, " Who eats sage in May shall hve for aye." 
Parkinson says : " It maketh the hayre blacke, it is good 
for woundis. For lethargy and forgetfulness bathe 
the back of the head with a decoction of sage and smal- 
lage." Pepys notes that in churchyards between Gas- 
port and Southampton, England, the custom prevailed 
of sowing the graves with sage. Evelyn sums up its 
noble properties by its assiduous use as making man im- 
mortal. " We cannot, therefore, but allow the tender 
summities of the young leaves but principally the 
flowers in our sallet." 

Salvia officinalis and S. grandiflora. The first is the 
common garden sage, a native of southern Europe, and 
has been naturalized for many years in this country as 
a garden plant. It is a perennial shrub, seldom more 
than two feet high and sometimes treated as an annual. 
The plant has a pubescent four-sided stem with erect 
branches, hoary with down, and leafy at the base, those 
bearing flowers being about a foot or a foot and a half 
long. The flowers are in racemes of blue variegated 
with purple (rarely red), arranged in spiked whorls. 
The flowers have but two perfect stamens, the filaments 
of which bear at their summit a cross thread. A much- 
elongated connective is fastened by a point and has one 
ceU of the anther at the upper end and the other, but 
imperfect, cell at the other end. The seeds of many 
species, when steeped in water, become covered with a 
mucilaginous slime, like that of quince seeds. The 
leaves are ovate, oblong, lanceolate, finely notched, are 
curiously wrinkled or rough, hairy or tomentose, and of 
a whitish-green color. The leaves and tops are gath- 
ered and dried during the flowering seasons, which is 
in June and July. Sage is slightly tonic with a pecu- 
liar, strong, astringent, aromatic, camphorous odor, and 
a sharp, warm, shghtly bitter taste. These properties 
are owing to its volatile oil (sage oil) , which may be ob- 
tained by distilling the plant with water infusion, but 

[ 170 ] 




MARJORAM 



1 Leaf and flowor stem 

2 Braet of flower 

3, 4 Different views of Howt 



5 Stamens 

6 Seed 



more especially in alcohol. Formerly it hud a high 
reputation as a sudorific and as an antiseptic, and was so 
esteemed by the ancients, especially by the Chinese, but 
at present, though officinal, it is little used as a remedy 
except in domestic practice, and it has no place in the 
pharmacopoeia. But the infusion is much valued in 
cases of gastric debility as a gargle, checking flatulency 
with speed and certainty. It is a good astringent and 
nerve tonic as well as a good remedy for use in cases of 
rheumatism. But its great use is as a condiment in 
flavoring dress, sausage, cheese, etc. Sage grows 
best in dry soil and is found growing on sunny 
mountain slopes and rocks. It has long been in general 
cultivation in gardens, and it is easily raised from the 
seed or from cuttings or divisions of the root. Roots 
should be planted about six inches apart. Sage brush 
(Carteunissia hidenlata) is found on Western table 
lands. The apple-bearing sage {S. pomifera) is a 
native of Southern Europe and is remarkable for its red- 
dish or purple bracts and large gall nuts growing on 
the branches as on the leaves of the oak. These are 
known as sage apples. They have an agreeable aro- 
matic taste and are edible. Both these species are used 
to adulterate. 

The Salvia longiflora of Peru sometimes attains the 
height of twenty feet, with flowers six to eight inches 
long. Several kinds are found fifteen feet in height. 
There are said to be nearly 300 varieties of sage, among 
which are the following: S. splenden, with large spiked, 
scarlet flowers, from Mexico, which is esteemed by flor- 
ists; S. coccinea, with smaller, but handsome flowers; 
the open-corolled S. patens, with tall, open spikes, with 
large blue flowers; the bracteated S. involucrata, with 
thick obtuse spikes of reddish-purple flowers ; the Clory 
S. sclarea, with large, beautiful, purplish-green decidu- 
ous bracts. 

MARJORAM 

Marjoram (Origanum mar jorum) . 
Origanum (meaning in Greek, joy of the moun- 
tains) . 

[ 171 ] 



Sweet marjoram, a genus of the natural order of 
plants labiatoe or mint family. It is chiefly a native of 
Greece and the countries bordering on the Mediterra- 
nean. It is an annual shrubby plant with a stem about 
one foot high, and has a ten-ribbed, five-toothed calyx, 
loose spikes, and broad bracts. It is peculiarly aromatic 
and fragrant, and is much used, as other mint plants are 
used, in common cooking. It has nearly an entire ovate, 
or egg-shaped, grayish or green, leaf, covered on both 
sides with a thin down, situated about three roundish 
heads of small purplish flowers crowded in cylindrical or 
oblong spikes, which are imbricated with colored bracts. 
It flowers in August. The flowers are very small and 
inconspicuous. Marjoram contains a yellowish essential 
oil (oil of marjoram or oil of origanum), which is ob- 
tained from some species by distillation. It yields fifteen 
ounces from one hundred and fifty pounds of the recent- 
cut plants. This oil will become solid by standing. It is 
used for toothache and for cancers. An infusion of it 
is a stimulant and is a good remedy for nervousness. 
It is mixed with olive oil to make a stimulating liniment, 
which is used as a remedy for rheumatic complaints and 
for baldness, and in case of sprains and bruises. The 
common marjoram, wild (O. valgore), is found on dry 
hilly, bushy places. 

PARSLEY 

Parsley (Carum petroselinum sativum). 

French, Persil (Culpepper). It is governed by 
Venus. 

Parsley is a biennial plant, with a fleshy, spindle- 
shaped root and a rough, erect, smooth-branching stem. 
It is a native of the Eastern Mediterranean region. It 
is now widely cultivated in all parts of the civilized 
world as a culinary vegetable, and it sometimes runs 
wild, the root being one of the principal parts. It is a 
great favorite on account of its much-divided, finely 
ciit, crisped, aromatic leaves, which are used in flavoring 
soups and other dishes and for garnishing. The leaves 
of the wild parsley are plain. Parsley has a white or 
greenish-yellow flower and from the seed an essential 

[ 172 ] 




PARSLEY 

1 Ripening fruit 4 Stamen 

2 Ripening fruit, more developed 5 Pistil 

3 Flower 6 Seed 




SAVORY 

1 Flower 6 Leaves of an axil 

2 Flower without stamens 7 Pistil 

3 Leaf 8 Stamen 

4 Flower cut, showing stamens 9 Seed 

5 Corolla 



oil is obtained, named apial, which is used as a drug in 
place of quinine in intermittent fevers. Its leaves are 
often chewed to neutralize the scent of onions. Parsley 
wreaths were twined for the victors of the Nemean 
games, but now it has fallen from its high estate to 
flavor or to garnish some lordly dish. The seed was 
formerly mixed in cheese curds with fennel and thyme 
and other fragrant herbs. The roots were also used as 
a relish, as noted in the words of Wynkyn, "de worde 
in the Boke of Keriynge says ' quinces and peres 
Ciryppe with parcelery rate. Bight to begyn your 
mele." Parsley seeds germinate imperfectly and the 
disappointment of the sower was explained by the belief 
that the devil took his tithe thereof. Many dire evils, 
belief in which can scarcely now be understood, were 
attached to the sowing, gathering, and even dreaming of 
parsley seed. These beliefs may have originated in the 
fact that the Greeks strewed it upon newly made graves. 
To be in need of parsley was a colloquialism which 
expressed the imminence of death. Herrick said: 
" Dear Perenna, Prithee come and with Smallage dress 
my tomb." 

SAVOEY 

Satureia Hortensis, a genus of the natural order 
lahiatoe, belonging to the mint family. 

French, Savorae. 

It is said to be governed by Mercury ( Culpepper) and 
was supposed to belong to the satyrs. The summer 
savory is chiefly of two kinds — S. Hortensis, the sum- 
mer savory, and S. Montana, the winter savory. Both 
kinds are natives of Southern Europe. Savory is men- 
tioned in the Old Testament { Genesis, Chap. XXVII, 
4th verse) : " And make me savoury meet such as I love, 
and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul maj^ 
bless thee before I die." Savory was probably intro- 
duced into Britain by the Romans, as we find it spoken 
of in a Latin treatise, " Husbandrie of Pallodius," at 
the fifteenth century, translated about 1420. It is a 
common herbaceous plant, from ten inches to one foot 
high, being half shrubby, with numerous stalks, which 

[ 173 1 



are very hard and woody near the bottom. The leaves 
are narrow, oblong or linear or lanceolate, entire, acute 
at the end, with resinous dots and short axillary, standing 
two at each joint, with a quantity of young ones in their 
axils. The flowers, which grow on the upper part of 
the stalk among the leaves, are white with a tinge of 
blue or red. The whole plant of the common summer 
savory {S. Hortensis) , as our cultivated garden herb is 
known, has an agreeable pungent taste and aromatic 
odor, and is analogous to those of thyme (thymus), 
differing from it in the regular five-toothed or fine- 
cleft calyx and having the stamens bent together into 
an arch under the upper lip of the corolla, both being 
in common use as a seasoning in cooking, either fresh 
or dried, for flavoring dishes, and especially for flavor- 
ing beans, and is cultivated for these culinary purposes 
in Europe and America. Its tea is used as a remedy for 
colic and as a cathartic. Winter savory (S. Montana) 
is used in the same way as the summer savory. 

THYME 

Garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris). 

French, Thym; German, Thyman. 

Thyme teucrium marum and Thyme pallium. It is 
a plant of the genus thymus, a humble, half-shrubby 
plant of the natural order labiatae (mint family) ; 
Latin, thymus incense, thus indicating its former use 
on sacrificial altars. It is said to have made the bed in 
the stable at Bethlehem and was used in many charms 
and incantations. " It is ever the bee's alluring time," 
and it was wild thyme which gave the famed flavor to 
the honey of Mount Hjnmettus. Among the Greeks 
thyme denoted graceful elegance of the Attic style. To 
smell of thyme was an expression of praise applied to 
those whose style was admirable. In the days of chiv- 
alry, peradventure, very highly noted ladies used to 
embroider their knightly heroes' scarfs with the figure 
of a bee hovering about a sprig of thyme, the bees as 
the belles of thyme. Early lists of English plants give 
no name with which it can certainly be identified. It 
grows from six inches to one foot high and has a two- 

[ 174 ] 



\ 






THYME 






1 Plant 




6 


Fruit 


2 Root 




7 


Seed 


3 Leaf 




8 


Stamen 


4, 5 Stamens 




9 


Seed 



lipped calyx and four diverging stamens and is clothed 
with a hoary down, with narrow, almost elliptical leaves 
with edges turned in. It may have many stems slightly 
indented in pairs, standing erect upon short petioles or 
decumbent at the base, which bear very small ovate 
leaves, which are sharp-pointed, while those of the 
whorls are blunt. The flowers are of a pale purple or 
whitish or reddish color, which grow in separate whorls, 
six in a whorl. It flowers from May until August and 
is a native of Europe and especially of Southern France. 
It is commonly found growing on dry hills and is culti- 
vated in gardens on account of its fragrance. It has 
a pungent, aromatic property and is largely used as a 
seasoning for soups, sauces, etc. From it is also dis- 
tilled the oil of thyme, which is considerably used in 
veterinary practice and for perfumery, and often passes 
as oil of organum. The tea of thyme is also used for 
nervous habits. The wild creeping thyme, or mother of 
thyme, is T. serpillu7n, a less erect plant which has a pro- 
cumbent stem with many branches from two to three 
feet long, small entire oval leaves and purplish flowers, 
arranged in whorls, which are united in a dense termi- 
nal leafy head. This variety is abundant on hills and 
mountains in Great Britain and in all parts of Europe 
and the north of Asia, between forty and fifty varieties 
being described. It is less fragrant than garden thyme, 
but both species have the same aromatic essential oil. 

T. serpillum has procumbent stems, numerous short 
ascending branches, ending in short, loose, leafy, 
whorled flower spikes, the leaves being egg-shaped and 
narrow and more or less fringed toward the bottom, 
those of the flower spikes being similar but smaller. 
There are two forms — T. en serpillum, with flowering 
branches, ascending from shoots, which are barren at 
the tip in one head, and the upper lip of the corolla 
oblong; and T. chamoedrys, in which all the branches 
ascend from the crown of the root stalk with whorls in 
many axillary heads and a short and broad upper lip to 
the corolla. The flowering branches, herha thymi and 
Tierha serpylU, are used in medicine as a powerful stimu- 
lant. 

[ 175 ] 



The lemon thyme, or lemon-scented thyme of our 
gardens, is regarded as a variety of thyme serpyllum 
known as citratus or citriodrus^ which is generally a 
hardy and very dwarfed traveling evergreen, of lower 
growth than the common garden thyme. No species 
of thyme is indigenous in America. Seed should be 
sown in drills or broadcast in March or April, in light, 
fine earth and raked in lightly. The young plants are 
transplanted in the summer when from two to three 
inches high. After they are from three to five inches 
in growth, they should be thinned out to about ten inches 
apart. Thyme is also propagated by shps of the 
branching shoots in the spring or early autumn, but more 
especially by sections of the brush or by removing 
rooted branches. 

The harvesting takes place in August by cutting the 
plants rather closely down with a very sharp sickle. 
The seed should be dried on cloth, rubbed out clean, and 
preserved in a dry place for sowing the following year. 
In using the herb for distillation it should not be dried, 
but the crop gathered each day should be put in the 
still at once. 

SEED 

In addition to the seed before mentioned which are 
used in connection with spices are the caraway, or 
carum carui. 

Coriander or the dried fruit of the Cariandrum 
salivuin, and the cardamom or the dried capsules of 
Elettaria cardamomum. 

' CARAWAY 

Caraway (Carum carui). 

The common name, caraway or carraway, is given to 
the dried fruits carum carui, which is a biennial umbel- 
liferous plant. The English name caraway and the 
Spanish name alcarahuega are derived from the name 
given to the fruit by the Arabians, " karawya." It is 
a native of Great Britain, growing on very low ground 
with a root much like the parsnip. The seeds are sown 
in drills in the autumn soon after they are ripe, and 

[ 176 ] 



must be thinned out the same as carrots and other similar 
plants, and must be kept free from weeds. They will 
flower in June and are ready for harvesting in July. 
The plant grows two or three feet high. The leaves are 
long and subdivided into numerous pinnule or seg- 
ments which are narrow-pointed and of a dark color. 
Tlie flowers grow in terminal umbels. The seeds are 
two, naked, brown, striated, and of an oblong shape, hot 
and acrid but pleasant to the taste. The seed abounds 
in essential oil containing gummy and resinous parts. 
Its tincture is used as a stomachic and carminative. It 
is used as a flavoring in cooking. 

CORIANDER 

(Kariandrum.) The product known as coriander 
seed consists of the dried ripe fruit of cariandrum 
salivum, which is the only specie of the genus umbel- 
liferoe. It is an annual herb cultivated in France and 
Germany for its seed. It grows about two feet liigh 
with branching stems. The stalks are round and erect 
and hollow, but have a pith within. The leaves are bipin- 
nate, the lower ones divided into broad or wedge-shaped, 
deeply cut segments, while the upper ones are divided 
into narrow parts and more finely cut. The flowers 
grow in clusters of a white or reddish color upon its 
branches. The umbels have five to eight rays without 
•d general involucre and the partial ones consists of a few 
small bracts. The seeds follow, two after each flower. 
They are half round and are the only part of the plant 
used. The most characteristic feature is this globular 
fruit, which is of a chamois or pale-yellow color and is 
about the size of the white pepper corn, which is crowned 
by the teeth of the calyx and contains no oil channels on 
the outer surface, but has two on the inner face of each 
half of the fruit. The ridges are five in number and 
very indistinct. As the two carpels, of which the fruit 
is composed, do not readily separate one from the other, 
they being protected by the ligneous pericarp, the fruit 
must be broken before submitting them to distillation. 
The unripe fruit possesses the intensely disgusting odors 
of the other parts of the plant, and for that reason it 

[ 177 ] 



should be allowed to ripen fully before gathering. 
When they are dry they are sweet and fragrant. They 
dispel wind and warm and strengthen the stomach, and 
assist in digestion, and are good for pains in the head. 
They are also used in whole mixed spices, used for pick- 
ling. 

CARDAMOM 

Cardamom, Kardamom {Amomum cardamomum) . 

Cardamom is the fruit of various East India or Chi- 
nese plants of the genera elettari of the ginger family 
{Zingiheraceoe) . Especially the most esteemed are 
those contained in the dried capsules, E. cardamomum 
of Malabar, which differs from the genus amomum 
by its elongated filiform tube of the corolla, by the pres- 
ence of internal lateral lobes in the shape of very small 
tooth-like processes and by the filaments not being pro- 
longed beyond the anther. All the species are natives 
of the tropical parts of India. Small or Malabar carda- 
moms, as they are known commercially, are the rhizomes 
which are thick, fleshy, or woody and ridged with scars of 
the attachments of previous leaves, giving off fibrous 
roots below. Stems, perennial, erect, smooth, jointed, 
enveloped in the spongy sheaths of the leaves, from six 
to nine feet high and about one inch thick, round and 
green and hollow, but with pith within, and resemble 
our reeds in many respects. The leaves are a half yard 
long, alternate, sessile in their sheath, entire lanceolate, 
fine-pointed, pubescent above, silky beneath, sheaths 
slightly villous with a roundish ligule rising from the 
mouth, and as broad as a man's hand. Besides these 
stalks, there rises from the same root others which are 
weak and tender and about eight inches high, which 
produce the flowers, which are small and greenish. Fol- 
lowing every flower comes one of the fruits called the 
great cardamom, which is a light, dry, hollow fruit of a 
whitish color, and somewhat triangular in shape, and of 
the size of a small bean, and of a dry substance on the 
outside, but with several small seeds within, which are 
reddish in color and very acrid but pleasant to the 
taste. These fruits are called the lesser cardamoms or 

[ 178 ] 



cardamom seeds, and they are excellent to strengthen the 
stomach and to assist digestion. They also are good 
for disorders of the head and are equal to anything to 
be had for colics, and are best used by chewing. They 
are used in whole mixed spices. There are two other 
kinds of cardamoms known as the middle cardamom, a 
long fruit, seldom met with, and the great cardamom, 
generally called " Grain of Paradise." 

In the home market three kinds of cardamoms are 
found under the curious names of " shorts," " short- 
longs," and " long-longs." Shorts are capsules from a 
quarter to half an inch long and a quarter of an inch 
broad, and the 'longest of the long-longs is about one 
inch in length. 



[ 179 1 



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